Shadow Requiem
by L Boogie
Summary: COMPLETED! The Titans go through all sorts of troubles when Slade hatches a new scheme using a young individual with dark powers. However, things go awry for said individual once he meets Starfire and the rest of the Titans!
1. Robbery Spree

The Captain: Ok, well out the woodwork I am! Great, isn't it? In any case, now that I'm out and about once again with the whole writing and being able to upload and all that good stuff, I can get back on track. This here is my 3rd story. Figured I'd just do one of possibly my favorite TV show that isn't officially anime. In any case, I hope you all enjoy this, as it's a Starfire and OC fic, which may sound weird, but I don't like Robin. He's cool, but I don't like him anyways. Rawr! Oh, the titles also work in progress...it'll work alright for now though. There will be some spelling problems for the moment. The spell check engine I'm using is dumb, and I'm getting some new software tomorrow for my computer, so when I get it installed, I'm gonna run this through immediately because I'm not a terrible speller, but I'm not great either.  
  
Legal Tander: I don't own the Teen Titans or anything in or pertaining to the show. I do however own the fic, kinda. I also hold rights to the characters in which I create which I would really appreciate not being taken and used. Blah.  
  
Shadow Requiem  
  
'BOOM!'  
  
That was the sound of the wall to local bank exploding outwards. A trio of criminals armed with strange weaponry burst out of the newly created opening with large sacks of money slung over their shoulders. There was an armored car waiting outside for them with it's doors open. The three men jumped inside and the driver floored it as they closed the doors. They sped down the street, ignoring all traffic and pedestrians in their way, causing cars to swerve off the road and people to jump out of the way for sake of their own lives.  
  
Robber: " Hey guys! We did it! Biggest hiest this city's ever had! Hell, with these things, even the Titans don't stand a chance."  
  
As if by some strange force or law of nature, at the mention of their name, they had appeared. Robin swept in from overhead with his grappling hook, landing on the hood of the car and held on tightly using his birdarangs as anchors. The driver swerved around to try and throw Robin off, but to no avail. In the mean time, Cyborg ran out into the road and took a forward defensive stance. The armored vehicle smashed right into Cyborg, who extended both of his arms and put his body into pushing the vehicle to a stop.  
  
Starfire flew up from behind and threw out a couple of Star bolts into the door, blasting it to pieces and exposing the robbers inside. They fired a few shots right back at her, but a large black wall of energy of sorts appeared infront of Starfire, protecting her. She looked over to see Raven flying not to far from her, her eyes lit up a pale white as she was casting her magic.  
  
From the rear, Beastboy came running along as a cheetah, making his way to the edge of the car while dodging shots from the robbers inside. Starfire threw a couple more bolts at their guns, missing only a few degrees and hitting the car and causing it to shake, throwing the men off their feet. Beastboy jumped up into the car and changed to a gorilla, reaching over and grabbing one of the men and threw him into another as they were getting up. He charged the third one and headbutt him, knocking him against the back panel where the driver was sitting. The driver noticing this, immediately jumped out of the door and made a run for it. However, a well placed bolas throw brought the man down quickly.  
  
Beastboy, Raven, and Starfire grabbed the 3 men in the back, while Robin grabbed the guy whom he caught on the road and dragged them off the the side. Cyborg pushed the car aside and off the road so traffic could resume. They brought the 4 men together and began an immediate questioning.  
  
Robin: " Where did you get those weapons?"  
  
Robber: " I'll never tell!"  
  
Robin: " Wanna bet?"  
  
Cyborg walked over and made took a rock off the ground, then crushed it in his huge metallic fist.  
  
Robin: " You gonna talk now?"  
  
Robber: " Hah! I call your bluff. Either way, it'd be much better than what would happen to me if I did!"  
  
Robin: " What...your dealer would get angry and come after you?"  
  
Robber: " I ain't sayin' nothin'."  
  
Starfire: " Please, you need to tell us. We...we will protect you!"   
  
He spat at her feet and sneered.  
  
Robber: " Hah! Whatever."  
  
Her smile turned to a frown and she stepped back to let Robin and Cyborg continue their questioning. Raven contacted the local authorities and Beastboy began a little show off session for a small crowd gathered near. She was a little disappointed that no matter how nice she is to criminals, they're always rude to her. She sighed, then looked to a small back ally that was amazingly dark. There, she saw two sets of eyes. But one of the sets only had one eye. They were staring right at the Titans. The first set was two fairly normal looking eyes, but the second person...that single eye...it bothered her. Infact, it bothered her enough to cause her some concern. She took off and flew towards the ally. The pair of eyes faded quickly as she approached, using her powers to light the area. She saw nothing though. She shook her head and dismissed the idea, flying back to watch the robbers get hauled off in police cars.  
  
Robin: " Well team, that was a great job. Who want's some Pizza?"  
  
Beastboy: " I'll go for that. And since I'm pretty much the guy who did all the fighting and hard work, I say we get it with tofu!"  
  
Cyborg: " How many times do we have to go through with this? We're not getting any tofu on our pizza!"  
  
Beastboy: " Dude, you know I'm a vegetarian!"  
  
Raven sighed as they started walking towards the Pizza place.  
  
Raven: " This is utterly pointless. We might as well just order a seperate pizza for the both of them."  
  
Robin: " That's true. How about it Star, what do you want on your pizza?"  
  
Starfire: " Let us see...how about anchovies, pineapple, and the mustard!"  
  
Raven: " Starfire...that's gross."  
  
Robin: " Ok..."  
  
As they walked, Starfire continued to list the ingredients of what she believed might be the perfect slice while Beast Boy and Cyborg continued their never ending arguement over which was better, pepperoni or tofu. Shortly thereafter, the team had arrived at their destination and found a place to sit. The waitress came over to where they were sitting, which caused Beastboy to turn on his charm.  
  
Beastboy: " Hey there Angie...what's up?"  
  
Angie: " Hey Beastboy, not much around here. Come to get your pizza fix?"  
  
Beastboy: " Don't you know it. Well, it seems that we're gonna get that tofu and greens..."  
  
Cyborg: " OH NO WE'RE NOT! Hey there Angie, we'll be getting double pep and cheese girl."  
  
Beastboy: " WHATEVER!"  
  
The pair continued their argument and she walked over to Starfire.  
  
Angie: " Hi Starfire, what would you like on your pizza today?"  
  
Starfire: " This is the first time you've ever asked me! I would like cheese, pepperoni, anchoivies, pineapple, mustard, ketchup...."  
  
She just continued the list for another few minutes while Robin, Raven and Angie had given a strange look to her. She blushed seeing this.  
  
Angie: " Wow Starfire, you're missing the kitchen sink on that one."  
  
Starfire: " I was always told that you cannot eat the kitchen sink, so how can it go on the pizza?"  
  
Robin: " It's a joke Starfire."  
  
She blushed more and laughed.  
  
Starfire: " Oh, I see!"  
  
Angie turned to Robin.  
  
Angie: " So what'll it be?"  
  
Robin: " Well, whatever the team wants...we'll get it figured here shortly."  
  
Angie: " I see. Raven..."  
  
Raven: " Just get us the Titans Pizza, like we always do. By the time we decided on anything particular, we'll all be over the hill. So that will do, like always."  
  
Angie: " Thought so. Alrighty, we'll have it out here as soon as we can."  
  
She walked off to go fill the order leaving the others.  
  
Raven: " I ordered for us. Now stop your pointless arguing."  
  
Cyborg: " It better have pepperoni!"  
  
Beastboy: " It'd better not!"  
  
Robin: " Hey you guys...cool it. I know we've been a little on end, but we need to relax."  
  
Starfire: " Yes, let us take a time out and enjoy the company of each other! I wish to initiate a group hug again!"  
  
Once again, she got the blank looks from all of them. They must not want to hug.  
  
Starfire: " Oh, ok then. We'll do it on a later occasion."  
  
Angie came back with some drinks for the rest of them, an herbal tea and 4 soda's.  
  
Angie: " The pizza's almost ready guys."  
  
Beastboy: " Well then, we'll be right here waiting for you."  
  
She laughed, then walked off giving them a little wave.  
  
Raven: " You know...you could lay off a bit on the flirt routine. I still want to keep my pizza down when I eat it."  
  
Beastboy: " Oh I see. You want a little attention from me too? Well I can see that. Was it my incredible good looks, or just my charm?"  
  
He began to reach his arm around her when a black forcefield popped up around her preventing him from touching her. He laughed and withdrew his arm.  
  
Raven: " Whatever..."  
  
Robin: " In any case, we need some time to relax. There's been so many robberies, thefts, and other crimes, we haven't had a lot of rest. I mean, how many did we break up and foil yesterday?"  
  
Cyborg: " Well, there were the hijackers, the 3 bank robberies, the jail break, the fire...atleast 6 yesterday. And then there were all the other days before that. Crime's been up this last month. I'd just like some time to take a break."  
  
Robin: " I hear ya."  
  
Beastboy: " It is strange, you know? And a lot of them had those guns like the ones earlier today. It doesn't really add up. Who is giving these things out? Seems everyone we've picked up is just some average joe. Like they could have just afforded those, even with some kind of discount arms dealer..."  
  
Starfire: " Perhaps we ought to do an investigation?  
  
Robin: " We should...but we'll probably be too busy with all of these robberies. I mean, they're springing up everywhere. Each is across the city from each other, so we have to hustle it from here to there, and then back again for another crime it seems. At this rate, we'll be wearing ourselves thin and we're not going to be able to handle a major threat if we're all exhausted from all the running around."  
  
Beastboy: " So what about splitting up then?"  
  
Robin: " I don't know. I mean, what if it's too much for one person?"  
  
Cyborg: " How's that? Let's take a robbery. Guy's got some guns right? Well, I can shoot them down faster than they can me. They won't touch Raven with her magic, BB can be any kind of animal, so he could just be too small to hit, and you and Star could just avoid their shots. I think it's a decent idea."  
  
Robin: " You're probably right. Anyone got a map?"  
  
Cyborg: " I'm a walking atlas of the world Robin. If we wanted to disperse ourselves evenly, then someone will go to City Hall, someone to the dock 22 warehouse on the east side, someone to the sushi bar on 23rd, someone right around here, and someone around the Tower area. That way, we'll be dispersed around the city in that we can pretty much have someone at any crime scene."  
  
Raven: " That's not a bad way to do it. I'll head for the sushi bar area then."  
  
Cyborg: " I'll stay here and keep an eye out."  
  
Starfire: " Then may I have the dock area please?"  
  
Robin: " Alright, and I'll stay by the tower, and Beastboy, that leaves you with City hall."  
  
Beastboy: " City hall? That's a boring!"  
  
Robin: " Well, there's no time to worry about it now, just look!"  
  
Angie was comming out with their pizza when something started buzzing on his belt. A miniture radar told him there was trouble on the west side of town.  
  
Robin: " That's you Beastboy! Everyone else, better start going for your spots too. Once he's done there, something else will probably spring up."  
  
Team: " Right!"  
  
The the 5 disbanded to head to their locations. Beast Boy, of course, changed into a gorilla and ate the pizza in one bite before heading out, thanking Angie. 


	2. Danger Afoot!

The Captain: Ok, well out that last one went alright. Though, as soon as I got it up, it was buried under about half a million other fics! And it doesn't help that I've taken forever on this second chapter. I've had a new idea on the direction to take this...so this'll be a 2 part fic. By that I mean this story will end sooner than I intended, but it will continue through a new story which I will title and produce when I'm done with this. Of course...that doesn't need to be worried about right now anyways, right? Right! Ok, I just wrote it! It's a little rushed though. I'll try to get the next one out, that way it'll make a little more sense.  
  
Legal Tander: I don't own the Teen Titans or anything in or pertaining to the show or MvsC2 (greatest fighting game ever!). I do however own the fic, kinda. I also hold rights to the characters in which I create which I would really appreciate not being taken and used. Blah.  
  
Shadow Requiem: Danger Afoot  
  
Beastboy transformed himself into an eagle in order to cover over the city quickly. Fly as high as the skyscrapers, he was able to make it to the scene of the crime shortly, seeing a large getaway truck speed off. The robbers had ripped an ATM right out of a gas station wall and laid it in the bed of the truck. Behind them, Police vehicles had been following with their sirens blaring loudly. Beastboy swooped down, transforming into a Pterodactyl and grabbed the large ATM machine out of the back of the truck. He set it down on the sidewalk, transforming back to his original state and stood on top of it in a defiant stance, almost daring the villains to come back.   
  
Indeed though, they did. The truck skidded into a stop and turned around without haste, and double backed to his position. The police cars had stopped and formed a blockade by Beast Boy, as each of the officers had gotten out of their vehicle and raised their guns, taking cover behind the armored doors. The crooks brought up their estranged weaponry again and fired a shot a piece at the ground infront of the police blockade. It tore right through the concrete and threw up all sorts of debris into the air, creating a small gorge between themselves and the authorities.   
  
Beast Boy made a second assault upon the criminals, this time in the form of a bull. He charged right through the smoke and over the small gorge to ram the truck when it stopped, knocking the 2 men on the back of the truck out of it. He then became a gorilla and smashed in the top of the cab, ripping open the door and pulling out the passenger, throwing him aside like a rag doll, and then doing the same with the driver. Though, with the driver, he tossed him onto one of the men whom had fallen off the truck, keeping him down. Beast Boy cleaned up by collecting the weapons from the back of the truck and off the ground, destroying them in his massive hands. Afterwards, he gathered up the crooks and escorted them to the police and was hailed as a hero.  
  
Across town, only mere moments after the police chase, a bank on 23rd street was hit. Infact, it was not only hit, it had actually been hit. A large armored car, much like the one from earlier rammed right into the entrance of the establishment. A pair of men ran out from the front compartment of the car and held up the bank tellers. Of course, by then the silent alarm had been hit, but police were scattered about, so no one had reached the location yet. Thankfully, Raven wasn't too far. She had sensed the action, and then received an alarm on her small bangle that was connected to her cloak. She flew off in the direction of the bank, just in time to see the men close the doors on the back of the car. They pulled out of the large hole in the building and went back to the streets, peeling out and tearing up and down the road to escape.  
  
She followed behind them closely, keeping a distance and formulating a stragety. After all, her powers were not of any simple rush in and smashem style, like Cyborg or Beast Boy. She held her hands out, and said her standard incantation, and used her powers to take control of the wheels, causing them to explode violently. The car, while still in motion, took a tremedous swerve to the right and toppled over on it's side, skidding to a sudden stop in a lamp post. The driver and passengers had been knocked out on impact, but the 3 men in the back seemed alright.   
  
They filed out of the car, leaving the money behind seeing how it would probably be a lost cause. They did take out their guns though, and fired numerous shots up at Raven, who had yet to come down out of the air. She waved her hands about and created small shields with her magic, deflecting and blocking shots that came too close or would have been direct hits. After realizing that their efforts were futile, the men began to run for it, which she was quite prepared for. As they took off, she used her powers again to take control of trash cans and all sorts of debris along the allys. They began flying at the escaping criminals, smashing into them and knocking them around on the ground. Finally, the men decided to just give up and save themselves any more punishment.   
  
They laid out on the ground, and Raven rounded them all up and escorted them back to the bank where the security guards there could take care of the rest. Afterwards, she gathered their weapons and took them back to the tower, where they could get examined.  
  
Maybe 5 minutes had passed and another alarm had gone off. This time though, a liquor store robbery in the downtown area, not too far from where Robin was positioned. The Burglers ran into the store with their guns drawn and demanded money from the cashier. After putting the money in the bag, they grabbed all sorts of alcohol off the nearby shelves, then shuffled into a van. They sped off and weaved dangerously through traffic, attracting Robin, who was perched on a roof top. He leapt from the tall building and fired off his grappling hook, swinging through the air and following behind the van. Since the traffic was heavy here, Robin decided not to make his move just yet.   
  
He continued to follow them through the air as they made more weaves through small openings in lanes and caused some havoc on the road. Finally, once they had reached a clearing a few miles down the road, Robin readied one of his Freeze Disks and began to aim. He finished a swing and began to free fall, coming closer and closer to the van. Finally, he fired off his grappling hook again and began another swing, this time much closer to the van. One of the robbers spotted him in the rear view mirror, so he leaned out the window and fired a blast at him from his strange gun. It missed Robin signifigantly, and so, he threw his freeze disk right at the Van's wheels. They froze up and it began sliding into a very slow stop, hitting a guard rail, halting it completely. The criminals began to file out with thier weapons drawn, but Robin was a couple of steps ahead of them.  
  
He had his birdarangs readied and thrown where the men were getting out. As soon as their weapons had been aimed, the birdarangs smashed right into them, breaking them on contact. Robin landed finally right infront of them with another pair of birdarangs. They surrendered themselves knowing that they had no chance against the boy wonder, then allowed him to tie them up and haul them to the nearest police station.  
  
So, Cyborgs turn would come up just shortly. He had been sitting at the pizzeria just long enough to finish the other half of the pizza that Beastboy left. Afterwards, he decided to travel to the arcade that was just below the restaurant. There, he spent a couple of quarters in some of the games, ranging from racing to fighting. Of course, he had to contend with high scores set by himself, Robin, and Beastboy, as there were few people who could actually best any one of the three of them in the arcade. So there he was playing a very healthy game of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, kicking the snot out of some chump team, proclaiming his victory, when a sensor in his body went off, indicating a police alarm going off.  
  
Cyborg: " Aww man! Not now! I almost have the high score!"  
  
Chump: " Who are you talking to?"  
  
He looked around, realizing that no one can hear the sensor going off.  
  
Cyborg: " Uhhh....man, shut up! I'm outta here!"  
  
Cyborg ran for it and headed out towards the alarm's location on his built in radar. It was coming from a jewlery store that was a few streets over. Cyborg used his massively strong legs to jump there. He wasn't slow running wise, but he could jump great distances, so that worked very well for him. In anycase, he ended up running into the jewelery store, seeing he just missed the burglers.  
  
Cyborg: " YO! Anyone see where they went?"  
  
Store Clerk: " They went that way!"  
  
The clerk pointed down the road, then Cyborg nodded in thanks, then took a massive leap back into the sky. A few more leaps brought the vehicle in sight. It was an old junker car, so it was nothing Cyborg wouldn't have a problem with catching up to after all. He ran as fast as he could after the car, tailing just behind it. There were 2 men inside, one driver, one passenger. The passenger turned around and pointed his gun at Cyborg. It was another of those futuristic laser guns. He fired it just in front of Cyborg, trying to hit him with it's deadly ray. Cyborg jumped over it instinctively, and soared high into the air.   
  
The passenger looked around the sky and along the streets for him, but didn't see him. Of course, he wouldn't have, because Cyborg was landing quickly, and landed right through the back half of the car, smashing through it's body and tearing up it's wheels and such. He fell out and the car went skidding off into a wall, halting instantly. The two men filed out and Cyborg took a shot at them, but missed purposely with his sonic blaster, letting them know that he would shoot if they tried anything.  
  
Thusly, it should be Starfire's turn...but she was hanging around an empty warehouse district. For almost 3 hours, she didn't have a single thing in her "Area". Though she heard the others talking amongst themselves about crimes and robberies they were thrwarting.   
  
Starfire: " I have not seen anything or heard anything in a very very long time...perhaps I should help one of you?"  
  
Cyborg: " I'm ok over here. I'm gettin' a little tired, but I'll be alright. I could use the exercise!"  
  
Starfire: " And you Raven?"  
  
Raven: " I'm fine."  
  
Starfire: " Beastboy?"  
  
Beastboy: " Woof...woof woof woof!"  
  
Starfire: " Oh...you must be chasing some one and are busy...well...how about you Robin?"  
  
Robin: " Well, I'm fine. Actually, it's been about 10 minutes before...oh wait, there's the alarm. I'll be fine Star. You just stay there just in case!"  
  
Starfire: " Alright..."  
  
She turned off her little communicator on her bangle. She sat on a warehouse roof and sighed, being positively bored of just waiting. Then, she heard something fall from within the warehouse. She flew down and opened a window, landing on the ground and wandering around slowly, hiding behind all sorts of crates and boxes. She creeped around the corner and saw a man standing with someone else. She narrowed her eyes and saw that one of them was Slade. She was unable to make out the other one, as the light seemed to just be out of reach of his face.  
  
Slade: " Are you going to be ready?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah...I'll be ready."  
  
Slade: " You do realize that if you fail..."  
  
Clive: " I won't fail."  
  
Slade: " I've heard that line before. If you fail, I will have to retract my generocity."  
  
Clive: " I understand. I won't fail."  
  
Slade: " Then you understand your orders fully? Make sure you bring back something from each of them. That will be for final test."  
  
Clive: " After this, what will be next?"  
  
Slade: " You'll be helping me get my apprentice."  
  
Clive: " Why?"  
  
Slade: " Don't worry about it."  
  
Clive: " I'd rather know. It's not really in my nature to do things like this for money, much less anything like what you're asking."  
  
Slade: " You're trying my patience. Perhaps you aren't all you're cracked up to be?"  
  
Clive: " I am what you've heard. I'm more infact."  
  
Slade: " Then I want a demonstration."  
  
Clive: " What...here? On what?"  
  
Slade narrowed his one visable eye. Suddenly, Clive heard a voice inside his head. It was Slade...apparently he knew telepathy.  
  
Slade: [You see...the one called Starfire is here.]  
  
Clive: [I see...she won't be able to get a good look at us though...]  
  
Starfire continued watching, but the shadows seemed to gather around the pair and made them blend in completely with the dark warehouse atmosphere, hiding them from her vision.  
  
Slade: [Just toy with her. Show off what you can do...]  
  
Clive: [I don't really want to hurt her...]  
  
Slade: [Fine...then just toy around with her. I'll head out. I expect the results later this evening...]  
  
Clive: [You'll get your results...]  
  
Slade started to walk away from Starfire. Clive turned and looked right at her. She froze up.  
  
Starfire: (Have I been seen?)  
  
Clive: " I know you're there..."  
  
Starfire: " Who are you?"  
  
She stepped away from the boxes and came out in the open with her hand glowing brightly. She shined her light on Clive, so he held up his hand to block her view of his face.   
  
Starfire: " Whatever your plan is with Slade...it won't work."  
  
Clive: " I'm sorry...but I can't allow you to interfere."  
  
His voice was sad and somber. It caused her a bit of mixed feelings, but she strengthed her resolve.  
  
Starfire: " You sound very sad. Perhaps if you gave up you'd be happier?"  
  
Clive: " Sorry...I can't do that."  
  
Suddenly, he moved out of her light. She looked around hearing his foot steps all around. In the low lit warehouse, it would be hard to find him. She continued to shine light all around, catching images of him, but not being able to see him fully. Finally, she heard his voice call out from behind her. When she turned around, something grabbed her around her waist, holding her arms to her body. She was completely wrapped up. And with it being so dark, she couldn't see what. She heard his voice.  
  
Clive: " I'm sorry...but you can't be here. Please be on your way."  
  
She began to sink into the ground quickly, disappearing from the warehouse. She looked around and saw that some huge black hand had a hold of her. Her arms were teathered to her body, being held tightly by the large dark hand. She struggled, but even with her super strength, she was still unable to break free. She took a moment to see the world around her and saw that it was nothing but darkness. Outlines of things could be seen, but it didn't make too much sense to her. She began to call out in desparation...  
  
Starfire: " Where...where am I?"  
  
She could hear nothing. She could see nothing. Just darkness and nothing more. Suddenly, she sunk back into the ground again, then closed her eyes not sure what to expect. When she opened her eyes, she could see everything again. But instead, she was right infront of the Tower. She got up and looked around, not sure what to do. She clicked on her communicator.  
  
Starfire: " Hello? Anyone?"  
  
Robin: " Yeah Star?"  
  
Starfire: " I saw Slade over at a warehouse where I was..."  
  
Robin: " WHAT?"  
  
Starfire: " I'm not sure which one it was now..."  
  
Robin: " Where are you?"  
  
Starfire: " I'm at the Tower."  
  
Robin: " How'd you get there?  
  
Starfire: " I don't know..."  
  
Robin: " Well...shoot. It's getting late and I haven't had anything in the last half hour. Anyone else?"  
  
Beastboy: " Nope!"  
  
Raven: " No."  
  
Cyborg: " Me neither."  
  
Robin: " Then maybe we're done for the evening. Let's head back everyone."  
  
All: " Right."  
  
Starfire stood there now in the shadow of the Tower looking at the ground.   
  
Starfire: " You sounded very sad...I wonder why?" 


	3. Scared of the Dark

The Captain: Yay! Another review! And a good one. Thank you to both of my loving fans! In any case, you'll get to see a lot more action in this one. You'll get to see my Clive character really get to cut loose cause he's soooo cool (ok, so he's alright...but I still like him!) Anyways, hopefully I'll get this one up by V-Day! Oh, and just so you all know, "..." represents speech, (...) represents thought, and [...] represents telepathic communication of sorts. Oh, I got the Teen Titans Go comic book. First 3 volumes baby! I love it...If this one feels a little rushed, I'm sorry, but I did want to get it up today. It'll get buried I know, but I still want to get it up. Hopefully, I'll be able to get this flowing a little better in time. I usually don't take this long to get a main character incorperated like this. In any case, enjoy!  
  
Legal Tander: I don't own the Teen Titans or anything in or pertaining to the show. I do however own the fic, kinda. I also hold rights to the characters in which I create which I would really appreciate not being taken and used. Blah.  
  
Shadow Requiem: Scared of the Dark  
  
The Titans gathered in the tower's living room, sitting across from each other between the couches and chairs. The TV was off and everything put away. A very different look for the Titans after a hard days work.  
  
Robin: " Ok, so let's think about this...the last month, crime has been through the roof. The prison is getting full and the jail cells in the police stations are packed. To make matters worse now, Slade is planning something and he seems to have some kind of associate...any thoughts?"  
  
Cyborg: " I think he's doing this whole thing to run us out of energy. I mean, all these crimes suddenly, running us all around town and now he's hatching something? Think about it. We won't have the strength to deal with him."  
  
Raven: " You have a point. Plus, all those criminals had those weapons, and only someone like him would have that kind of money and access."  
  
Robin: " But what does it all mean?"  
  
Beastboy: " I think he's just trying to wear us down, the force us to fight. I mean, what else would he do if he made all those robberies happen?"  
  
Robin: " I don't know. That's what I think as well, but I feel like it's wrong...Starfire...you've been pretty quiet over there. You were the one who saw him with that other guy...maybe you could help."  
  
Starfire: " Well...I am not sure. I could hear them...but I got there too late to find out what they were talking about."  
  
Cyborg: " Then tell us about this new guy?"  
  
Starfire: " I also don't know about that either. I could not see him very well. Only small glimses...he was too fast I think."  
  
Raven: " What do you mean?"  
  
Starfire: " He seemed to be everywhere at once. He was over in the corner, and there were shadows all around, so I could not see him. He moved around me, and I could not tell where he actually was."  
  
Raven: " He sounds like a Shadow Mage."  
  
Beastboy: " A Shadow what?"  
  
Robin: " What's a Shadow Mage?"  
  
Cyborg: " Sounds kinda lame if you ask me."  
  
Raven: " Don't take the name lightly. Supposedly, they are few in existance, if any at all anymore. I've only heard of them though, but I've never seen one."  
  
Robin: " So what do they do?"  
  
Raven: " They can manipulate the shadows around them. But it's more than that. Their powers are similar to mine, but are usually more so. I can't quite say for sure if that's the truth, but that's what I've heard."  
  
Robin: " Star, what was the last thing you remember in the warehouse?"  
  
Starfire: " I was looking for him when something grabbed me and wrapped me up. I couldn't move at all. Then, I got pulled into the ground, then I was somewhere else. It was all dark, and I couldn't make anything out. Then, I got pulled through the ground again, and I appeared here!"  
  
Raven: " You were pulled through the ground? What do you mean?"  
  
Starfire: " I don't know. That's just what happened. It could barely see anything. The world turned to darkness!"  
  
Raven: " Well...I can't tell for sure. We'd have to encounter him for me to see."  
  
Robin: " Any way you could use your powers to search for him?"  
  
Raven: " Well, by what Starfire says, he's probably powerful. I could give it a try, but it may take some time."  
  
Robin: " Well, give it a try if you can, until then titans, I think it's time for some sleep."  
  
Cyborg: " Yeah, I'm beat. All this running around's got me tired."  
  
Beastboy: " Oh like you've got a lot to talk about. You didn't have to leave the pizza shop I bet?"  
  
Cyborg: " Not tonight BB...I'm gonna go power down for a while."  
  
The Titans started heading for their rooms, but Starfire stood looking out a window. Robin walked over to her as the rest of them left.  
  
Robin: " Hey Star, aren't you tired too?"  
  
Starfire: " Not really. But...I'm just kind of worried about that guy?"  
  
Robin: " I wouldn't. He won't be able to get us while we're in here. This place is armed to the teeth with alarms and such. He'd never get by."  
  
Starfire: " Oh, that I'm not worried about. I was worried about him."  
  
Robin: " What do you mean?"  
  
Starfire: " He said some things to me when we were in that warehouse...and he sounded so sad..."  
  
Robin: " Hmmm...well, I don't know. I wouldn't think about it too much. Anyways, I'm going to bed...we can settle all of this in the morning."  
  
Starfire: " Thank you Robin."  
  
Robin: " Hey, that's what friends are for."  
  
She smiled as he walked off towards his room. Afterwards, she made herself a bowl of popcorn, then sprinkled large amounts of suger into it, then sat down and watched some television. Eventually, a couple of hours later, she dozed off on the couch, with a mostly eaten bowl of sugered popcorn in her lap. She would remain that way, until of course, in the middle of the night, all the soda she drank would come back to haunt her. So, she got up groggily and searched for the bathroom. Since it was so dark, she held up her hand and created a light for her too see. Go figure, as just when her light began to shine, it caught some one, or maybe something in their Tower.   
  
She gasped, seeing the being, and it brought it's arm up around it's face, trying to hide it's identity. They both held still for a moment, as she wasn't sure what she was seeing and the intruder didn't want to provoke her to attack. She took a step back slowly, and the intruder did the same. Finally, Starfire let out a loud shriek and threw a starbolt at it. The intruder ducked away from it and ran through the hall. She chased after it, flying just behind it while throwing more starbolts, narrowly missing it's heels. The explosions shook the building a bit, and as they would have, set off the alarms and woke everyone up. The intruder was able to lose Starfire by running into the basement, where Starfire seemed to not like being. Instead, she waited by the door as everyone came rushing out.  
  
Robin: " Starfire! What's going on?"  
  
Starfire: " There is something here!"  
  
Beastboy: " What's here?  
  
Starfire: " I don't know! I was going to use the bathroom and when I needed a light, I used my powers, and I saw it. Then it ran and I chased it!"  
  
Cyborg: " What's it look like?"  
  
Starfire: " It's...it's kinda tall...and black...and uhhh...that's all I could really tell. It covered it's face so I couldn't see it."  
  
Robin: " Sounds like it's trying to protect it's identity. Must be human then. So, did it go down there?"  
  
Starfire: " Yes..."  
  
Robin: " What's wrong Star?"  
  
Starfire: "...."  
  
Raven: " You're afraid of the basement."  
  
Starfire nodded slowly agreeing.  
  
Beastboy: " Don't worry, we've got your back."  
  
Robin: " That's right! Let's go Titans!"  
  
The 5 ran down the stairs. Robin and Starfire took one direction, Raven and Beast boy went another, and Cyborg stayed at the enterance to make sure it didn't get out. The two groups searched for about 10 minutes, running into each other repeatedly. Finally, they regrouped back with Cyborg.  
  
Robin: " Well? Is there anything here Cyborg?"  
  
Cyborg: " Well...yes and no. Other than you guys, something keeps appearing and disappearing off my sensors."  
  
Raven: " Something is here. I can sense it. It's hiding it's powers from me though. Infact, it's hiding everything from me. Though it does let me know it's here...I can't tell where or what it's up to."  
  
Beastboy: " So what do we do?"  
  
Robin: " I'm thinking...hold on..."  
  
Suddenly, a crash was heard about 40 feet away, and a small explosion shot out from the power generator of the Tower. The lights upstairs shut off and they were surrounded by the darkness, except for the light Cyborg and Starfire provided.   
  
Robin: " Over there! Come on guys!"  
  
The 5 ran for it, making it there quickly, but all they found was a trashed generator.  
  
Cyborg: " Oh man! There goes my plans for tomorrow!"  
  
Robin: " If we have any. First, we have to catch this menace. Raven, since we can't do it with the systems...can you seal off the tower with your powers?"  
  
Raven: " I could...but I couldn't do anything more. This is a very large structure...so it would take my entire attention."  
  
Robin: " Then go ahead and do that. Cyborg, stay with Raven and make sure nothing happens to her. She's going to keep this guy in so we can get a hold of him."  
  
Cyborg: " No problem."  
  
Robin: " Beastboy, you and Starfire search from here to the second floor. I'll do the 3rd to the roof."  
  
Beastboy: " Are you gonna be alright alone?"  
  
Robin: " I should be. Good luck everyone!"  
  
Robin ran off for the stairs while Raven placed her hands on the floor, sitting in an indian style position. The floor began to glow black from her powers, and it spread through the walls, eventually encompassing the entire exterior of the Tower. The doors shut and everything was locked tight. Cyborg transformed his arm into his sonic cannon, then readied it for anything. Starfire and Beastboy slowly climbed the stairs, keeping their eyes peeled for anything.   
  
Now, Robin was already at the third floor, carrying his flashlight and shining it about, looking for pretty much anything. This carried through to the top of the tower, and so, Robin had nothing on his hands. As he was coming down the stairs to the 4th floor, he heard a laugh somewhere behind him. He stopped and slowly turned around, readying a pair of his birdarangs. The laugh came again, and Robin threw them from the point where he heard it. They hit the wall and he grabbed a second pair, shining his flashlight at the new point, seeing nothing.  
  
Robin: " We know you're here. You won't get out."  
  
Clive: " Indeed. You're very well thought out. I can't open the doors, and Raven is blocking all portals from within."  
  
Robin: " Give up and we'll make this easy on you."  
  
Clive: " Sorry, but I can't afford that now."  
  
Robin: " Well you can't afford failure either since you're with Slade, am I right?"  
  
Clive: " Indeed. You're very well aquainted with him. Well, I don't care for working with him, but I don't have too many other options."  
  
Robin: " There's always other choices."  
  
Clive: " But not if you're putting someone else at risk..."  
  
Robin: " What?"  
  
Clive: " Nevermind that. I've got to take care of my business here. So I guess I'll just have to start with you."  
  
Suddenly, something grabbed Robin's cape from behind him and pulled him to the ground. A large hand wrapped in black grabbed him by the head and tossed him into a wall. Then, a foot came crashing into his ribs and pinned him in his spot. Clive rose up and out from Robin's shadow, grabbing his mask firmly and pulling it off. Robin threw a hand up infront of his face to protect his identity. He looked between his fingers to see his attacker. He wore a black suit, from his feet up to his neck. Though his face wasn't covered, he did wear a pair of black goggles to hide his eye behind. His hair was black and was a bit longer than Robins.  
  
Robin: " Give that back!"  
  
Clive: " Sorry...I just need something from each of you. Now then..."  
  
Clive hit Robin quickly in the neck, knocking him out. Afterwards, he put the small mask into what looked like might be a pocket at his hip. He continued down the stairs afterwards, but was stopped when he saw the unmistakable light coming from Starfire's hands. He pressed himself into the wall and traveled among the shadows, slipping by the 2 patrollers, deciding that he needed to get to other 2 first, just in case something goes arwy and he would need to leave quickly.   
  
He slipped down stairs in his shadowy form, almost invisable to the naked eye because it was so dark. As he was approaching the pair of titans on the first floor, Cyborg turned in his direction, pointing his cannon where he was.  
  
Raven: " What's wrong?"  
  
Cyborg: " I'm picking up movement around us...but I don't know from where."  
  
Raven: " I wish I could help you..."  
  
Cyborg: " Just keep this place locked up. I'll worry about this guy."  
  
Raven: " Just be careful."  
  
Clive, still as a shadow on the wall, made his way slowly around. Cyborg kept his cannon pointed right at him. It was moving with him, almost as if he knew he was there.  
  
Cyborg: " I know you're there. I can detect your movement! Heck, I can see your shadow!"  
  
Raven: " What? That's him!"  
  
Cyborg: " What?"  
  
He fired a high decible blast from his arm and right into the wall where he saw the strange shadow. It knocked the wall down, leaving a large hole in it. As for Clive, he was blasted straight out of the wall and onto the ground. Quickly, he jumped up and ran around Cyborg and Raven repeatedly, using his black form to make him hard to see.   
  
Cyborg: " Hold still so I can get a lock on you!"  
  
Finally, he came barrelling into Cyborg, putting his shoulder and all his weight into knocking him over. Cyborg got back up to his feet quickly, so Clive raised up his arm, and a large black hand jumped out of Cyborgs own shadow and grabbed him by his head, pulling him straight to the ground. The hand then spread it's grip and encompassed Cyborgs body, then raised him into the air and threw him out the window. He was thrown so hard that he ended up being tossed into the bay just around the tower.  
  
Clive: " Well now, 2 down, 3 to go."  
  
Raven: " You won't win..."  
  
Clive: " I don't have to."  
  
He made a quick advance on Raven, but she released her power over the tower and rolled out of the way. He reached out to grab her, but she made a shield to prevent him from touching her. He then pulled back his hand and it quickly morphed and became a large crablike claw. He used it to try and grab her again, but was cut off by the barrier she put up. He continued to apply pressure, and the shield began to crack. With his other hand, he morphed it into a pick of sorts, and while one hand put pressure on her shield, the other began hammering away at it, increasing the cracks in the shield.   
  
Eventually, it broke. It caused a sudden explosive force, seperating Raven and Clive. He got up to his feet first and made a break for her while she was knocked down. Before she could get up, he grabbed her by the collar of her cloak. He pulled her up off her feet, bringing her to eye level with him. The Shadow's covered his face, and she took a couple of swings at him, but large arms shot up out of their shadows and blocked them. It was quite unfair, as she wasn't anywhere near his abilities physically. She started to chant her 3 magic words, but he stretched and placed his hand onto her head, covering it completely. She struggled harshly, flailing her limbs about, trying to get free. But he continued to hold her like that, until she stopped moving.   
  
He set her down on the ground. She had only passed out, and he double checked to make sure she was alright. Afterwards, he pulled her body aside and placed it onto the couch nearby. Now with only 2 left, he could finish his assignment quickly. He tore her hood off of her cloak and then walked over to the Gamestation they had, taking a memory card maked, " Cyborgs ". He placed it into that same pocket at his hip, which then disappeared back into his body. Afterwards, he made his way back upstairs to where Starfire and Beastboy were. He continued along the walls, sneaking through the shadowed portions of the walls to avoid being seen. He came up on the pair, and the green light Starfire emitted from her hand made his skin crawl just a bit. The pair passed him and he rose up and out of the shadow he was on the wall.   
  
Standing just behind the pair, he raised both of his hands, taking all the darkness around them and wrapping them around Beastboy. Beastboy stopped, realizing that he couldn't see anything. He couldn't see Starfire, much less the hand right in front of his face. He transformed into a cat to try and see if that would help, but that ended up being useless. Starfire continued her wandering without him, not knowing he wasn't right behind her. Clive made a run for it and grabbed Beastboy while he was in his cat form, then carried him away as fast as he could before Beastboy would know what was going on.  
  
He ducked around by a downward spiralling staircase and that's when Beastboy made a transformation into a Gorilla to try and ward off whomever had grabbed him and was carrying him. Clive took a couple of steps backwards, taking a moment to think about what to do about the small cat that was wrapped in black shadows and now had become a giant Gorilla. Still, he knew that Beastboy couldn't see, so he stepped back as the raging Gorilla took swings at him, missing greatly and pounding the heck out of the walls.  
  
Clive knew that the sound would bring Starfire, so he ran up to Beastboy and grabbed him around the waist. He then pivoted on his heel, and with an amazing feat of strength, he tossed him down the stairs. The Gorilla fell and rolled all the way down, banging his head and the rest of his body on the steps. At the bottom, it had turned back into Beastboy's normal form, which was unconscious. Hearing the noise, Starfire turned around and shined her light about, seeing that Beastboy was not with her.  
  
Starfire: " Beastboy? Where are you! Where have you gone!"  
  
She took flight in the direction of the noise, getting there just in time to see the large being she saw earlier stopped over Beastboy and pluck a hair from his head. She growled in discontent, which wasn't something she was very well known for.  
  
Starfire: " You! Get away from him or I'll shoot!"  
  
Clive turned around partially, stopping and putting up his arm again to protect his face from sight.  
  
Clive: " Sorry Angel, but I have a job to do."  
  
Starfire: " You should give yourself up!"  
  
Clive: " I don't quite have that luxury. Now then, if you don't mind, will you give me something of yours?"  
  
Starfire: " What?"  
  
Clive: " I need something from you. Anything really. Since I'd rather not have to go pawing through your room or hurt you, I'd like to try and ask nice."  
  
Starfire: " You've done all of this just to get something that belongs to me?"  
  
Clive: " Well, not just you. All of them. Like I have a hair from Beastboys head, I have a memory card for one of Cyborgs video games, I have a piece of Raven's hood, and I have Robin's mask. Now, I need something from you."  
  
Starfire: " Is this why Slade sent you?"  
  
Clive: " Sort of."  
  
Starfire: " Well I will not give anything of mine to you. What have to done with the rest of my friends?"  
  
Clive sighed, slumping his shoulders and shaking his head.  
  
Clive: " I promise they're all fine. Just please give something of yours to me? I don't want to have to hurt you accidently."  
  
Starfire: " You'll find that I'm stronger and tougher than I look."  
  
Clive: " Well, as much as I'd like to find out..."  
  
Clive made a quick dart at her. He was very quick on his feet, and his sudden motion took Starfire by surprise. He reached out to her and snagged her communicator off her belt. Afterwards, he jumped down the flights of stairs. She chased after him, continuing their chase form earlier, landing starbolts just behind his ankles. He was in a full out sprint when he reached the first floor, and she was still gaining on him. He stopped in the midst of his run and ducked down, causing her to fly right over his head. Afterwards, he turned and ran down a nearby hallway. Starfire turned around and followed him, and smiled, knowing where this hall way ended. Clive ran as fast as he could but the hall dead ended. He stopped and entered the room at the end of the hall, hoping he would be able to escape from somewhere in it.  
  
Running in, he realized that this was a training room. Weights, floating targets, and even some projectile weapons sat all spread out. He shook his head, cursing himself.  
  
Clive: " Damn."  
  
He heard her voice come from the enterance. The doors opened up to reveal her.  
  
Starfire: " There is no where to run."  
  
Clive: " I've still got a couple of aces up my sleeve first!"  
  
Starfire: " Aces?"  
  
Clive placed a hand on the wall and it faded into a shadow along it. He pressed the rest of himself against it, until he faded into the wall and became a shadow. He began to slip by her, but she threw a starbolt into his shadowy form out of desparation, not sure what else to do. Not only did it blow a hole in the wall, but it knocked him out of it as well, sending him sprawling along the ground. She held another in her hand and waited as he slowly got up to his feet.  
  
Clive: " Jeez...what was that?"  
  
He looked at her and then at his body. His black suit had striveled down quite a bit and only half covered him. It was slowly climbing back up his body though, showing some sort of regenerative property.  
  
Clive: " I see..."  
  
She threw another one, since he gave no sign of giving up. It hit him squarely in the chest and knocked him against the wall. He slumped down onto the floor, then slowly looked up at her. She looked angry. Very very angry. Clive got up slowly again, realizing that his suit had mostly faded off of himself, covering only his legs like pants.   
  
Starfire: " Now are you going to give up?"  
  
Clive: "...."  
  
Starfire: " You can't win. Please just give yourself up."  
  
Clive: " You don't know..."  
  
His voice was sad again, much like it was when she had first seen him.  
  
Starfire: " What don't I know?"  
  
Clive: " A lot of things. I can't just give up, because that would mean failure."  
  
Starfire: " But we cannot let someone who works for Slade get away."  
  
Clive: " But I can't let what will happen if I fail happen. It's a no win situation."  
  
Starfire: " Perhaps we can help?"  
  
Clive: " I doubt you....?"  
  
Slade: [You've said enough. Finish up now.]  
  
Clive: [I understand.]  
  
Starfire: " What's wrong?"  
  
Clive: " I'm sorry. I must be going."  
  
Starfire: " You'll be doing no such thing!"  
  
She threw a couple of Starbolts at him. He had enough time to allow his suit to regenerate over his body again, and so, jumped out of the way, pulling back his fist and smashing it into the wall. It crumbled under the impact, and he continued to smash his way out of the Tower. He kept his attentions on her starbolts though, knowing fully well that they were dangerous to him. Finally, with one final punch, he knocked a hole in the wall and was outside. He jumped outside, avoiding another flury of starbolts, and then stopped running once he got to the water's edge. Starfire cornered him once more.  
  
Starfire: " Now there is no place to run."  
  
Clive: " That's alright. I just need to stall you for just a moment."  
  
Starfire: " What?"  
  
Out of nowhere, from beneath her, a large black hand much like before grabbed her legs and pulled her aside. Another one shot up and wrapped her arms up, until she was completely detained. Clive knelt down and placed a hand on his own shadow, causing it to ripple much like water. He looked up at Starfire and gave her a nod.   
  
Clive: " I'm sorry about all this trouble. I'll let you go once I'm through."  
  
He sunk down into his own shadow, which quickly faded from view. The black shadow like hands that had grabbed Starfire disappeared quickly, and she just stood there all alone on the sandy ground around the small island. 


	4. The Big Chase!

The Captain: Ok...so it wasn't long till I got buried again. I guess I'm just gonna have to try harder! So how was that Valentines Episode of Teen Titans? I liked it...but just because Starfire was great in it. I still don't like Starfire and Robin. Don't ask me why...I don't like him. I don't like Batman either...or Batgirl...or Nightwing...or...well, Robin. Well, don't fret, I'll find something for Robin in this fic (it's not that I don't like them...I just don't like them that well...) And for all intents and purposes, this is Tim Drake Robin. Why? The time period is too 21st century to be Dick Grayson Robin. Nuff said.  
  
In any case, I've been working so much, I haven't had much time to work on the fic. Sorry it's taking so long, all 3 of my loving fans...but it will get better...I just gotta get around this first section here.  
  
Legal Tander: I don't own the Teen Titans or anything in or pertaining to the show. I don't own Hot Topic (though, I got a NO MA'AM shirt from there) and I don't own DDR either. I do however own the fic, kinda. I also hold rights to the characters in which I create which I would really appreciate not being taken and used. Blah.  
  
Shadow Requiem: The Big Chase!  
  
A young man dressed in black appeared in the hidden, clock work like location where in Slade resides. He walked down a very narrow catwalk, where he stopped short of Slades throne. Slade narrowed his eye at him.  
  
Slade: " I assume you got them?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah. I had a little trouble but..."  
  
Slade: " You have them, correct?"  
  
Clive: " Yes. I have something from each of them."  
  
He reached into his black bodysuit, and pulled out an item from each of the Titans from what looked like an invisable pocket. Whatever the case, he held them out. Slade's servant walked up to them and put them on a large silver tray, then brought them to Slade.  
  
Slade: " A torn blue hood, belonging to Raven, a memory card from Cyborg's videogame system, a strand of green hair, undoubtedly belonging to Beastboy, a video communicator from Starfire, and the one I like most...Robin's mask. You've done well..."  
  
Clive: " ...."  
  
Slade: " You are smarter than you look. Most thank me for the praise, but you know we have a slight problem..."  
  
Clive: " ..."  
  
Slade: " Why did you say what you did to Starfire?"  
  
Clive: " I don't know what you mean."  
  
Slade: " Now now...don't play dumb. Why did you tell her everything you did? I cannot have an errand boy if he tells everyone my plans..."  
  
Clive: " I really don't like hurting people. You know that. I thought I might be able to talk her into just giving me something of hers."  
  
Slade: " And in it, you told her my plans that I trusted you with."  
  
Clive: " ...I'm sorry sir."  
  
Slade: " Somehow I doubt. None the less...this will cost you..."  
  
Clive: " Please! We need this!"  
  
Slade: " I know. And that's why you're going to do as I say, whether you wish to hurt the Titans or not."  
  
Clive: " Please sir...I'd do almost anything else. I'll steal whatever you want! I'll go and destroy whatever you want...but I really don't want to just hurt someone without any reason!"  
  
Slade's voice became much more harsh. He balled a fist and stood up, looking down at the young man.  
  
Slade: " You are in my service. You do as I say, or else. Now then, I want you to publicly humiliate the Titans."  
  
Clive: " Humiliate them?"  
  
Slade: " A fight out in the open, for all to see. I want everyone to witness the Titans defeat."  
  
Clive: " Any particular reason for this?"  
  
Slade: " Now if I told you that, you might tell Starfire."  
  
Clive: " I swear I won't."  
  
Slade: " I don't quite believe that. In any case, there is a football game being held this weekend. I'll get the Titans there for you. You just have to put on a good show."  
  
Clive: " Fine. I'll do as you ask."  
  
Slade: " Very good. And now, I'll handle my part of the bargain again."  
  
Clive: " Thank you sir."   
  
Almost 2 weeks have passed since the attack on the Tower. In the last 2 weeks, crime has been very low. It would figure since most of the criminals were now in lock up, and the rest probably didn't want to follow in their peers footsteps. Or maybe because Slade had another plan going. Whatever the case, Jump City had been very quiet and the Titans hadn't been needed for quite a while. Cyborg and Beastboy are playing the Gamestation, Raven and Starfire were meditating, and Robin...he was working on his Slade business.  
  
After that day 2 weeks ago, the Titans mood had become a bit more somber. They had lost to a single foe, and he disappeared afterwards, not to be heard from again. Finally though, Cyborg and Beastboy finished their game and got up off the couch.  
  
Cyborg: " Alright, as much as I love my Gamestation...I need to go do something!"  
  
Beastboy: " I'm with ya there Cy."  
  
Cyborg: " So how about we get the girls and Robin, then head for the park? Toss a little pig skin and all!"  
  
Beastboy: " Now we're talking!"  
  
Cyborg and Beastboy went first to Raven's room where she and Starfire were. They knocked on the door, and didn't recieve an answer, so they knocked again...and again...and again...and again. Finally, Raven opened the door partially and stuck her head out.  
  
Raven: " What?"  
  
Cyborg: " What's goin' on?"  
  
Raven: " Nothing."  
  
She went to close it, but Beastboy stuck his foot in the doorway, stopping her.  
  
Beastboy: " Hey, Starfire's in here too right?"  
  
Raven: " Indeed she is."  
  
Raven tried again to close the door, but Beastboy kept his foot there.  
  
Cyborg: " Well, how about we all go out to the park! We haven't really done anything in a while and we've had a lot of time off...so come on!"  
  
Raven: " Perhaps another time."  
  
Beastboy: " Oh come on!"  
  
Raven: " Perhaps another time."  
  
Cyborg: " Why?"  
  
Raven: " I've finally helped Starfire reach her inner peace right now, and I'd rather not disturb it."  
  
Beastboy: " Can't she find it later instead?"  
  
Raven: " Yes, but it hasn't been very easy. So why don't you go and talk with Robin or something else for a while. You are disturbing our concentration."  
  
Beastboy: " Come on Raven, just this once?"  
  
Raven tried again to shut the door. Her physical strength wasn't enough to get Beastboy to move, and he gave her a wily grin knowing she couldn't close the door. Suddenly, she whispered something to low for them to hear, then her eyes glew white and Beastboy's foot turned black from Raven's power and removed itself from her doorway. Afterwards, she closed the door and locked it.   
  
Cyborg: " Man! This is boring! Let's get Robin and do some combat training or something! I'm bored!"  
  
Beastboy: " Talk about it. And they want to sit down and do their inner peace thing."  
  
Cyborg: " Oh well. So let's go get Robin. He's got to want to go do something!"  
  
Beastboy: " I hope so."  
  
The pair left the hallway with Raven's room and headed for the evidence room where they last saw Robin. They walked on in and there he was reading through papers and all sorts of notes. He didn't turn around when they walked in, which made them sulk a bit and feel slightly uneasy.  
  
Cyborg: " Hey Robin...I know we've been trying to follow this Slade lead and all that, but we haven't had anything to do in the last 2 weeks. I mean, we haven't been on call, we even stopped patrolling around a few days ago. We haven't done anything as a team, or as friends in a while...come on, whatcha say man?"  
  
Robin: " ...."  
  
Beastboy: " Come on! We talked with the girls and they said that maybe later they'd go out to the park with us or something...but till then, let's go and have some fun!"  
  
Robin turned around and approached them. He was face was grim with a sprinkle of hardship and determination. Cyborg sighed and started to turn around.  
  
Robin: " Sounds like fun. Count me in!"  
  
Beastboy: " What? Really? Awesome!"  
  
Cyborg: " Now that's what I'm talking about!"  
  
Robin: " So, what are Raven and Starfire doing?"  
  
Beastboy: " Finding their inner peaces or something like that."  
  
Robin: " I see. Well then, I guess it's just us for now."  
  
Cyborg: " Alright then guys. Let's get to the car!"  
  
So the boys all ran for the garage. As they approached, Beastboy gave a shout out.  
  
Beastboy: " SHOTGUN!"  
  
Robin: " Dang it! Well, I'm team leader! I should get Shotgun!"  
  
Beastboy: " Whatever...I called it first!"  
  
Robin: " We'll, you'll have to beat me there!"  
  
Robin made a break for it, but Beastboy quickly pulled ahead in his cheetah form. He reached the car first, then transformed back to his natural state and laughed as Robin pulled in just behind him. Cyborg unlocked the car from outside and got in the driver seat, while Beastboy was passenger and Robin in the back. The three of them then took an underground tunnel that led from the garage to the city and headed for the arcade.   
  
There, they cut loose and started to mingle amonst the crowds there and played every kind of game against every kind of gamer. Cyborg was more of a racing game kind of guy, and so, he was crushing his competition in the Racing Games. Robin was more of a shooting or action game junky...so he wasn't found too far from the games like house of the dead and such. And Beastboy? Well of course the Dance Dance Revolution Remix was right up his ally.  
  
So with the boys out of the Tower in the mid afternoon, that left the girls all alone to their meditations. Starfire and Raven sat across from each other, floating up in the air as if they were seated on invisable chairs. They kept repeating those 3 words over and over again.  
  
Starfire: " Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos...Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."  
  
Raven: " Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos...Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."  
  
They continued in unison for quite a long time. Raven peeked her eye open at Starfire, whom she could tell was trying very hard to find her center. Raven knew something was on Starfire's mind, and it was showing. It had been for quite some time too. Raven cleared her throat, breaking their chant.  
  
Raven: " Alright Starfire, what's wrong?"  
  
Starfire: " Nothing is wrong. All is well!"   
  
Raven: " Starfire, you know that won't work on me. I can sense your feelings. That, and I can see it when you try to get your center and meditate. You're obviously bothered by something."  
  
Starfire: " I know not of what you mean Raven...I am pleasent!"  
  
Raven narrowed her eyes and gave Starfire that look she could give, the one where she knows you're lying and doesn't like you trying to trick her. Star sunk down in her seated position a bit, looking down to the floor.  
  
Starfire: " All is well...but I am bothered more by that young stranger whom broke in our Tower 2 weeks ago."  
  
Raven: " I know that's been troubling you. Why?"  
  
Starfire: " Because I don't think he's supposed to be a bad guy. I think he's just doing this because he's ordered too."  
  
Raven: " Many of them are like that Star. Many of them also know how to trick as well."  
  
Starfire: " That is true...but I do believe him to be genuine."  
  
Raven: " Why do you believe that?"  
  
Starfire: " Because he sounds so sad when I talk with him."  
  
Raven: " I still think it's a trick. No offense Star...but you aren't the least naive person I've known."  
  
Starfire: " I know...but you haven't really talked with him."  
  
Raven: " I spoke enough with him. He was very cocky and undermining."  
  
Starfire: " But could you feel his emotions?"  
  
Raven: " Infact I couldn't. He was blocking me out of him."  
  
Starfire: " When he spoke to me...it was like he bore his...ummm...what is it called again?"  
  
Raven: " His Soul?"  
  
Starfire: " Indeed. Like be bore his soul."  
  
Raven: " Well, I guess I can't convince you...and perhaps you might be right. In any case, you are still bothered. Perhaps you'd like to go to the Mall or something in order to take your mind off of this."  
  
Starfire: " Would you go with me then please? Afterwards, we could then try meditating again and I would fare much better."  
  
Raven sighed, knowing she really didn't like the mall, but for her friends sake, she had to do it.  
  
Raven: " Sure..."  
  
Starfire: " Glorious!"  
  
She hugged Raven, whom just took a deep breath, reminding herself that it's for Starfire's sake. So, the 2 girls took off to the skies and flew towards the mall. They reached it rather quickly, and began just wandering through the main area, looking around at all the different stores in which it contained. A fairly small crowd of onlookers followed the duo around, since they were basically celebrities after all. Starfire dragged Raven to a clothing store which was adorned with bright colors and all sorts of cute things. In other words, a yuppie shop in which Raven would have rather been dead than be found in. She pulled her hood over her head and took a step inside stopping.  
  
Raven: " I suddenly feel cold..."  
  
Starfire: " Is there a problem Raven?"  
  
Raven shook her head and the feeling of discontent and took another step in. The pair wandered around looking through all sorts of shirts, pants, and dresses. Starfire kept taking things off the shelf and placing them along her body, measuring herself up and picturing them on her. She smiled and laughed since this was something she found to be enjoyable.  
  
Starfire: " The clothes shopping is much fun, is it not Raven?"  
  
Raven: "...."  
  
Starfire: " What is wrong?"  
  
Raven: " I don't like these kinds of places..."  
  
Starfire: " Oh...I see. Well...perhaps we should go to that much darker store just over there. Come, let us bond more!"  
  
Raven sighed in some relief before Starfire grabbed her hand and pulled her out of there. Raven pulled off her hood again, now back out of the store. They continued across the way into a Hot Topic. They walked in and looked through the many different and bizarre clothing they had. Raven felt much more comfortable in here. Many people whom she did know from her cafe' travels would shop here. In any case, Starfire still looked through the clothing, and though some of it was cute, some of it was very strange and not her kind of appearal.  
  
Raven struck up some light conversation with the store clerk, whom which was pierced in his ears, nose and lip. Starfire cringed seeing him, then turned her attention to some of the mens appearal, seeing bands on shirts she had heard of. She looked further down the isle and her jaw dropped. The guy wore blue jeans and a black Metallica T-shirt. He wore a pair of goggles on his head and had droopy shoulder length black hair. He turned his head and when she saw his face, she knew it was him. He stopped dead in the isle, seeing her.  
  
Starfire: " It is you...Raven! It's him!"  
  
Raven flew over a few isles and dropped down by Starfire. She pointed to him and the guy slowly backed up.  
  
Raven: " Who is he Starfire?"  
  
Starfire: " It's the guy from 2 weeks ago!"  
  
Raven: " What?!"  
  
Clive: " Damn!"  
  
He made a break for it, hopping over an isle of shirts and jumping over the counter, making his way for the exit. Raven's eyes began to glow and the doors slammed on him, but Clive just jumped through the window, rolling along the ground with a few cuts and bruises, but nothing really serious. He got up and began to run for it. Starfire and Raven flew right through the large hole he made in the glass and trailed behind him. He was much faster than a normal human being it seemed, but not all that much faster. The pair began to gain on him. He looked back and saw them approaching quickly. He was heading for the parking garage and decided that it was best if he try and slow him down so he could get to his bike. He ran up a nearby escalator and made his way across a small over hang, still heading for the parking garage. Starfire continued up towards his level while Raven split off and followed underneath. Clive began to call out to his persuers as he ran for it.  
  
Clive: " Damn it! What are you guys doing here! Don't you have some kind of emergency to attend to?"  
  
Starfire: " Infact we don't. But you are a criminal and we need to take you in!"  
  
Clive: " I bought this shirt! I swear!"  
  
Starfire: " No, not that!"  
  
Clive jumped the rail and saw Raven waiting for him below. He reached outwards and a large black hand came from out of his shadow, grabbing himself out of the air and bringing him to the ground safely. Afterwards, he continued running through the parking garage with the pair back on his heels. Starfire even threw a few Starbolts at him, but he artfully dodged them. He saw his bike up in the distance, so he threw his keys out and a large black hand from his shadow grabbed them. It took them to the motorcycle, and though Starfire didn't see this, Raven did. She persued the fleeing keys carefully, and watched them start up the bike. Raven looked and saw that Clive's shadow had infact detached itself from him. She made the bike glow, and was going to turn it off, but something dispelled her attack, and the shadow appeared along side the bikes. The bike took off and didn't seem to have a driver.   
  
Clive jumped onto a couple of cars, hearing his motorcycle was on. He ran for it and jumped into the air. The bike came just beneath him and he landed on it. A little shakey, but it was a pretty well orchestrated. So, now Clive was driving off on his bike. Starfire and Raven had a much harder time keeping up with him, as he would zig zag through most the traffic. It wasn't like it was a small little speeder bike, but rather a big old hog...so it wasn't really built to be this nimble. But for Clive's sake, he needed to give it a try.  
  
Clive: (Man...who'd ever think that I, of all people, would be running away from a couple of girls. And they're both pretty cute too...jeez, not my day...)  
  
Starfire: " Give it up! We will catch you eventually."  
  
He drove through a tunnel, and then on a bridge. His dangerous driving was causing people to pull off to the side and even caused a couple of small fender benders from others trying to get out of their way. Finally, he turned off into a small park, where in which he would get in the most trouble. He drove through grass and muddy areas, which slowed him down greatly. Raven made many of the trees in his way uproot and fall infront of him. Between that and Starfire's barrage of starbolts, there was going to be no way out. He slowed down to a stop and got off his bike. The pair landed and approached him carefully. He took off his goggles and held his hands up.  
  
Clive: " Ladies, please, enough."  
  
Raven: " Who are you?"  
  
Clive: " Well, I can't quite tell you that."  
  
Raven: " You are going to tell us that. And while you're at it, why did you just stop?"  
  
Clive: " Well, with you pulling out these trees and trying to hit me with them and the pretty missy right there trying to blow the crap outta me with her powers...I decided it was in the interest of my bike that I just give up before I need to get a new one."  
  
Starfire: " You stopped so that we would not wreck your motorcycle?"  
  
Clive: " Hey, I'm not made of money. I paid for it, so I would rather keep it in good shape than buy another. They're not cheap."  
  
Raven: " Whatever. Now who are you?"  
  
Clive: " I told you, I can't tell you that."  
  
Raven: " Then I'll just call the police and you can be taken away."  
  
Clive: " Well, that's fine. Call them so they can take me out of your custody..."  
  
Starfire: " Wait...why are you being so cooperative?"  
  
Clive: " Huh?"  
  
Raven: " He's just trying to trick us."  
  
Clive: " No, it's not that. Well, not exactly that. I mean, I guess I'd rather be in your custody, I mean, who wouldn't. But I'd probably fare much better in police custody."  
  
Raven: " You'd be able to escape much more easily."  
  
Clive: " Something like that."  
  
Starfire: " So then...why were you at the mall?"  
  
Clive: " I was shopping. Really, I was! Please don't give me that look, I'm a pretty honest guy!"  
  
Raven: " That's hard to believe considering you broke in our tower, assaulted us, and stole things from us."  
  
Clive: " Well, that was my job. And you know they say you should do your best at whatever job you undertake."  
  
Raven: " Don't patronize me."  
  
Clive: " I'm not. It's just...it's just that...I..."  
  
Raven: " You what?"  
  
Clive sighed. He wanted to keep talking to these girls. I mean, he was a guy after all. But they were very intriguing to him. He even wanted to tell them the truth. However, he also knew that he had other obligations. He couldn't afford to get caught like that, because if he did...well, it wasn't going to be good.  
  
Clive: " Look, I know I've done a lot of bad things...and I'll probably do more to be totally honest with you. But I've got some obligations to fulfill. So if you'll please let me go, I won't be forced to hurt you."  
  
Starfire: " You keep talking about these 'obligations'...but what are they?"  
  
Clive: " I can't say. Look, please just trust me. I will pay you back one day...I promise...but right now, I am unable to do so."  
  
Raven: " You'll have to try a little harder to convince me."  
  
Her eyes began to glow white and she attempted to see what he knew and was thinking. She started to see things, like a family and such, but before she could really make anything of it, everything went black. She shook her head and realized that she was kicked out. Infact, not only that, but his shadow shot up in front of him, almost like a barrier. He took a couple of steps back.  
  
Clive: " I'm sorry Starfire. Same thing Raven, but I can't be caught."  
  
The shadow faded backwards and against Clive, making that same black body suit on him. He spread his fingers and they became sharp and pointy. He hunched a bit and took another step back, ready to defend himself. Starfire approached slowly, her hands were lit up with her green energy. Clive swiped at the air in between them, stopping her progression. He turned and began running once again, this time deeper into the park. The pair persued, but eventually lost him the thicker and darker the terrain got. They regrouped back at the Tower afterwards and the boys still weren't home.  
  
Raven: " Well...this day has been an utter waste of time."  
  
Starfire: " Indeed. We still don't know who this boy is, nor do we know his or Slade's plans."  
  
Raven: " I think I'm actually starting to believe you a bit Starfire..."  
  
Starfire: " What do you mean?"  
  
Raven: " I tried to take a look inside his head, but I got kicked out. Still, I saw some family moments and such. He can't be that much older than us...so I think he's working for Slade out of need...not want. And you are right...he does sound very sad at times. If I could get into his head, I could probably find out."  
  
Starfire: " I agree. What should we do?"  
  
Raven: " I don't know. I think we should talk with the others first. We need to formulate a plan to stop him, or even subdue him if needed."  
  
Starfire: " You are probably right."  
  
Raven: " Well, it's only 7 now...want to get something to eat?"  
  
Starfire: " Then we may meditate and find our inner selves!"  
  
Raven: " Well...atleast one plan will go without a hitch hopefully..."  
  
Meanwhile, back at the arcade...  
  
Robin: " Oh come on! You cheated!"  
  
Beastboy: " How did I cheat?"  
  
Robin: " You use your powers when you play DDR! That's cheating enough!"  
  
Beastboy: " I'm just using my natural talents..."  
  
Robin: " Liar! With your powers, you can hit all the buttons in any combination with ease. You know how hard that is for me?"  
  
Beastboy: " Well then, go get some powers or something!"  
  
Robin: " What? Whatever! You cheated! Why should I get powers so I can cheat like that?"  
  
Beastboy: " Hey, don't complain! You'd use them if you had them too..."  
  
Cyborg: " Hey, you guys wanna keep it down? I'm trying to concentrate!"  
  
Cyborg knelt down by a little claw machine where he was try to get his claw perfectly lined up with the stuffed animal inside. He pushed the button and smiled.   
  
Cyborg: " Come on! Success ratio is 98% at this angle!"  
  
The claw lowered and grabbed the little animal. It pulled it up and began to drag it back, but it fell out of it's grasp right before it was supposed to drop it, thus ruining Cyborgs quarter.  
  
Cyborg: " AWWW! COME ON! THAT WAS THERE! NOW THAT MAKES 5 DOLLARS AND 20 MINUTES I'VE SPENT ON THIS STUPID THING! COME ON!!! I COULD HAVE BOUGHT ONE AT THAT PRICE!!!"  
  
And thus, chaos insued at the arcade with Cyborg getting fed up with the claw machine and Robin and Beastboy's arguement. All in a night as they say... 


	5. Football Friday Fight, part 1

The Captain: I want my Teen Titans Go #4 to come out! It's not out yet! Well, in any case, maybe I can use this excessive anger to write this story faster or something. Yeah...something like that. Well, I've decided to do a couple of drastic things. Since I couldn't figure out how else I'd do it, I thought I'd just drop her right in here. Read on to find out who. You should probably figure it out quickly. So how was that last episode of Teen titans anyways? It was pretty good. Real cutesy really, with the narrator and all. Well, now I guess I can let her shoot beams from her eyes and all that. Cool cool. Yeah...  
  
Oh, and just for the record, the names I use in this are terrible, but they are supposed to be that way!  
  
Legal Tander: I don't own the Teen Titans or anything in or pertaining to the show. I do however own the fic, kinda. I also hold rights to the characters in which I create which I would really appreciate not being taken and used. Blah.  
  
Shadow Requiem: Football Friday Fight, Part 1  
  
All the titans had gathered in their living room to talk about what had happened to Starfire and Raven last night. They sat all across from each other in a small circle, each with a note pad and pen. They had all just finished breakfast, and were all ready for discussion.  
  
Robin: " Alright...so let's start a little think tank here. We've got some menace to society running around in Slade's service, and he recently attacked Starfire and Raven at the mall...so let's come up with some ideas on how to stop him, and find out what he's planning."  
  
Raven: " Robin...he didn't attack us. He fled from us, and that was all. Infact, it was we who attacked him really."  
  
Robin: " Well yes...but he did attack us initially. But whatever the case, we do need to think up ways to find out who he is and how to combat him."  
  
Beastboy: " I don't have any ideas guys. I never even saw him. All I remember was getting grabbed from somewhere, then drug away. I turned into a gorilla to fight off whatever it was, but I couldn't really see it. I just took some swings in the dark and then I fell down the stairs. So, whatever he is, he's really hard to see in the dark."  
  
Cyborg: " Worse yet, he can move around as a shadow. Me and Raven were downstairs, and I knew he was there because I could detect the motion from his shadow on the wall. Next thing to know, Raven's yelling at me, telling me he's the shadow. So I shot it, blew a hole in the wall over there and next thing to know, he popped right out."  
  
Robin: " Good. There's a start. Your sonic cannon will blow him out of walls and such, force him out in the open."  
  
Raven: " Yes...but I think that's all it can do. My powers didn't have much effect on him. I tried to read his mind, and I was starting to get somewhere when I was kicked out. His shadow seems to be where his powers center from."  
  
Cyborg: " I'd say I agree with you...but that's not all he can do. He knocked me off my feet with a shoulder charge, and that shouldn't have happened. He's only human, atleast that's what my scanners told me. So, he's got some other powers I think we haven't really seen."  
  
Robin: " So we should expect him to be strong."  
  
Cyborg: " No...it wasn't his strength. It was something else. I'm sure he's still pretty strong...but it was like something exploded between us and knocked me down. After that, I just remember getting grabbed by that shadow thing of his and being thrown from the tower."  
  
Robin: " I know. When I was checking around for him, I couldn't pin point him because I was getting attacked on all sides. When I thought I found him, something pulled me to the ground by my cape. When I thought he was behind me, something grabbed my head as I was turning around and tossed me into the wall. Then I saw his foot come out and stomp on me. After that, it was just a quick hit to the neck. So he does know how to fight. Starfire, you've been really quiet about all this. You've seemed to have the most experience against him. You're the only one that didn't really lose to him after all."  
  
Starfire: " Well...no, I guess not. He was not mean to me at all. He asked me to give my communicator to him."  
  
Robin: " He asked you?"  
  
Starfire: " Indeed. He said he didn't want to hurt me. But then, when I told him no, he grabbed it and ran off. So, I cornered him in the training room."  
  
Robin: " I see. So what happened after that?"  
  
Starfire: " He did the shadow thing that Cyborg mentioned, and he started to get away. But then, I threw starbolt at the wall to stop him. I hit him, and it too knocked him from the wall and put a hole in it."  
  
Robin: " So perhaps explosive weaponry and sonic waves knock him out of his shadow form. Ok, well there's a plus."  
  
Starfire: " Well...when I hit him with my starbolts...he seemed to be really hurt by them. His...clothing was melting off at one point."  
  
Robin: " What? That doesn't make a lot of sense..."  
  
Starfire: " I am not too sure what it means. That is only what I could see. I hit him with it, and his costume began to melt off."  
  
Robin: " Perhaps it has something to do with his shadow then? Raven, you should know more than the rest of us. Maybe you have some ideas?"  
  
Raven: " All I know is that he may be a shadow mage. That's all. I don't know what there powers are or consist of. Though, I get the feeling that isn't just a shadow of his."  
  
Beastboy: " What does that mean?"  
  
Raven: " When we chased him in the parking lot, he threw his keys out and his shadow caught them. It started up his motorcycle and was able to help him elude us. Thus, I do not think it is just a shadow."  
  
Robin: " Now...that's a bit farfetched, don't you think?"  
  
Raven: " Well, I don't have proof...and perhaps that just might have been him using his powers further...but with how it started his motorcycle, and when I was kicked out of his head it came up in his defense, it makes me believe it's much more than just a simple shadow or some power."  
  
Cyborg: " Well, whatever the case, it seems like we have the one thing that can stop it. Seems Star's powers have serious effect on him. If that's the case, we need to get a plan together where we can trap him. If he causes problems, she can just give him a couple of zaps and that'll be the end of that."  
  
Robin: " Good idea. So now all we have to do is find him. Now Raven, you and Starfire have both seen his face, right?"  
  
Raven: " Correct. He's of above average height...so maybe a few inches taller than Starfire. He has shoulder length black hair and blue eyes. Probably weight around 190 pounds or so. He's quite lean actually, and in good shape. When we saw him, he was wearing a Metallica shirt and blue jeans."  
  
Robin: " So, he's an average guy then?"  
  
Raven: " It would seem. He likes those goggles though. He wore them when he attacked us, and he wore them outside in the public. Look for those and you'll probably find him."  
  
Just then, the doorbell was heard. It's loud ring echoed through the entire tower. Beastboy jumped up and ran for the door. He looked at the video moniter and saw a letter sitting there on the step. He opened the door and picked it up, then brought it back with the others. It had all the Titans names written on it. He tossed it to Robin.  
  
Beastboy: " Here's some mail."  
  
He looked over it and narrowed his eyes, scowling darkly.  
  
Cyborg: " Hey man, who's it from?"  
  
Robin: " Slade..."  
  
Raven: " Well, open it."  
  
Robin: " Cyborg, scan this thing first. Make sure it's safe."  
  
He handed the letter to Cyborg and he robotic eye glew brightly, scanning it in all sorts of ways, he handed it back to Robin shrugging.  
  
Cyborg: " It's clean."  
  
Robin: " Fine. Let's see what this is all about."  
  
Robin tore the envelope open and took out it's contents. There were 5 front row tickets at the 50 yard line for the Jump City Jacks Football game that evening. Then, there was also a letter. Robin read through it aloud for everyone to hear.  
  
Robin: " Titans...you've been doing very well the last few weeks. My congradulations on all your plot foiling and city saving. In respects for you keeping the city safe from those whom would take it over, aside from my self, I'd like to extend my gratitude to you. These tickets are in appreciation for your hard work. They were very hard to get a hold of, and were very expensive. So please be there. You won't be disappointed. Sincerely yours, Slade."  
  
The 5 teenagers thought long and hard for a few moments. Finally, Beastboy broke the silence.  
  
Beastboy: " Well, I say we go."  
  
Raven: " I'm agree. He can't be up to any good."  
  
Robin: " But what if it's a trap? Or a diversion?"  
  
Cyborg: " Yeah...I know. I'm with Robin on this. I think we should just stay out and patrol the city."  
  
Starfire: " Then perhaps we should split up into groups?"  
  
Robin: " Well...that's not a bad idea. So...how will we do this?"  
  
Cyborg: " Look, me and Robin will patrol the city. That shouldn't be too hard. He's got his cycle and I got my car. You 3 can go to the football game. Make sure nothing goes too wrong over there, and when it's over, we should meet back here."  
  
Robin: " Alright. That's what we'll do. What time is the football game slated for?"  
  
Beastboy: " The ticket says it's tonight at 7pm."  
  
Robin: " Then we should probably get to the training room. Come on, let's do some light drills to get ready for everything."  
  
Out of nowhere, another ring came at the door. Beastboy turned around and headed for it. Opening the door, he saw nobody. Afterwards, he shook his head and closed it. Not a couple of seconds later, that ring came again. He poked his head of the door way and still saw nobody. So, he closed the door and just a moment after he closed it, he opened it again, catching the young blond in the middle of her prank ringing.  
  
Beastboy: " Terra?"  
  
Terra: " Beastboy!"  
  
Terra hugged the green titan and he about melted in her arms. She let him go and he pulled her in.  
  
Beastboy: " Hey everybody! It's Terra!"  
  
Starfire: " Wonderful! You are back!"  
  
Terra: " Hi guys! How have you been?"  
  
Cyborg: " Not too bad really."  
  
Robin: " What brings you back?"  
  
Terra: " Well...I wanted to come back to say I was sorry. For a lot of things. Particularly to you Beastboy."  
  
Beastboy: " Oh...it's alright. I'm just glad to see you're doing well."  
  
Terra: " Thanks. I wanted to see if you still needed a new Titan! Because I'm ready to give it a shot. I know I still need some work on my powers...but still, I'd like to be of some help."  
  
Raven: " ..."  
  
Terra gave a strange look Raven's way. Raven pulled her cloak over and got up.  
  
Raven: " I need to do some meditating."  
  
Robin: " That's pretty sudden. Are you alright Raven?"  
  
Raven: " I'm fine."  
  
Raven got up and walked off towards her room. Everyone just looked at each other, then rewelcomed Terra in and filled her in on the plans. In the mean time, everyone went to the training room where they participated in a lot of team exercises, excluding Raven of course. They also worked with Terra on her powers, which since the last time they had seen her, had improved greatly. They maintained this schedule through lunch, which they got together and had a big pizza. Raven joined them this time around for the food and to finish practice for the evening.  
  
Finally, 6pm rolled around and the 6 Titans got together in the living room. Of course, Beastboy was almost hanging onto Terra, as he had been since she got there. Robin handed out 4 of the 5 tickets, one to Starfire, Raven, Terra, and Beastboy. Afterwards, he gave them their final instructions.  
  
Robin: " Alright. Just act normal when you're in the seats. Slade may or may not be at the game. That other guy may or may not be there as well. Whatever the case, that's going to be the biggest attration of people, so that's why most of you will be there. Cyborg and I will handle whatever happens around the city. If anything happens, let us know. Let us know also if Slade shows up. He's the most important target. Everyone got it?"  
  
Beastboy: " Yeah yeah. Let's get going. Worse comes to worse, I get to see a ball game."  
  
Starfire: " Yes, I too would like to learn more about the football."  
  
So, Beastboy, Terra, Raven, and Starfire all left for the stadium. Cyborg let them pile into his car and was about to take them, but Beastboy jumped out quickly.  
  
Beastboy: " Hang on, I need to go get my hat."  
  
Cyborg: " Hat? Which hat?"  
  
Beastboy: " My going out with the girls hat."  
  
Cyborg: " You mean that old thing? I'm not letting you in my car with that thing on!"  
  
Beastboy: " Oh come on! It'll look great! Please, for me Cy?"  
  
Cyborg: " Fine...fine...whatever. Just hurry up!"  
  
Beastboy ran off and in just a few moments, came back wearing a white, wide brimmed hat with a red, yellow, and green feathers sticking out of it. He hopped back in the car with Cyborg and they drove off towards the stadium. Terra was snickering under her breath, trying hard not to laugh out loud. Raven simply rolled her eyes, and even followed it with a sigh AND a shake of the head. Starfire, of course, didn't quite get the whole joke, but admired the hat.  
  
Starfire: " Such a pretty hat Beastboy...why do you not wear it more often?"  
  
Beastboy: " Oh, it's only for special occasions like this."  
  
Starfire: " It is an occasion? Perhaps a holiday? Or is this some kind of earth custom that I am not aware of yet?"  
  
Raven: " You really don't want to know the answer to this Starfire."  
  
Starfire: " I do not? What harm would it be? Is Beastboy doing something naughty perhaps?"  
  
Terra: " Kinda...but hey, I think it's pretty cute."  
  
Beastboy: " You think so? I mean...uhh, yeah! I'm cute!"  
  
Cyborg: " Man...whatever..."  
  
He shook his head and drove the car faster. Beastboy's obscenely large hat was starting to crap his car as he seemed to show it off a bit more. Cyborg dropped them off in a matter of a few minutes. Of course, this may have been because he had the pedal to the floor the entire way. In any case, he kicked Beastboy out of the car, whom opened the door for the ladies to step out. Afterwards, Cyborg took off to patrol the city. Beastboy extended both his arms out a bit.  
  
Beastboy: " Now then ladies, if you don't mind..."  
  
Terra: " Sure, why not!"  
  
Raven: " Absolutely not."  
  
Starfire: " What would you like me to do with your arm? Perhaps you need some Tameranian Acupuncture?"  
  
Terra: " Oh no Starfire. Just take it...like this!"  
  
Terra took Beastboys arm in hers, and Starfire did the same. He walked with them, adding a little more flare to his step, and the 3 of them seemed to be having a good time. Raven instead walked a ways behind them with her cloak pulled up over her head. They continued into the stadium where they took their seats. They sat Starfire, Terra, Beastboy, and Raven all in a line. They were even recognized up on the large screen used to show camera pans and were broadcast for all to see. Beastboy waved to the camera and stuck some poses. Starfire watched herself and her reactions on the TV screen with glee. Raven gave the camera a brief glance, then went back to her viewing of the audience. Terra joined with Beastboy in show boating, and the crowd seemed to love it.  
  
Finally though, the game started. It was the Jump City Jacks football team going against their rivals, the Spade City Aces. The Jacks kicked off to the Aces, and thus the first quarter began. Beastboy kept ordering popcorn and peanuts from the vendors walking by. Starfire sat very contently with her soda and candy, but kept asking questions about the game.  
  
Starfire: " I have seen this before...but I'm not sure how it is played again. We tried in the park a long time ago, but that was when Cyborg ran out of power. Now, who is who here and what do they do?"  
  
Terra: " Well, that guy there in the very center is called the Center. He gives the ball to the guy behind him called the Quarterback. The Quarterback makes all the plays for the team to follow. He hands the ball to the other members of the team. He can also pass the ball however he wants."  
  
Starfire: " So...he is like the team leader?"  
  
Terra: " Yeah, something like that."  
  
The Quarterback threw the ball halfway down field, where one of his recievers caught it and took it a few yards before being tackled. Starfire got up, ready to threw a starbolt.  
  
Starfire: " He has been assaulted! We must help him!"  
  
Terra: " No Starfire...it's alright. You see, the defending team can do that. They want to make sure that nobody on the other team gets into the end zone with the ball."  
  
Starfire: " I see. What a wonderous sport of atheletes it is. Perhaps we should try to play it again some time."  
  
Raven: " Please...just keep your eyes open everyone."  
  
Beastboy: " Killjoy..."  
  
So, the 4 Titans kept their eyes out. Still, Starfire was a bit more interested in the mechanics of the football game, so she kept her attention well divided. The first quarter passed by and the second quarter started.  
  
In the meantime, Robin and Cyborg were busy patrolling the streets. Since this was such a big and important game, the streets were almost empty, so getting around was very easy. Robin called into the team at the stadium. Raven picked up on her communicator and answered him.  
  
Raven: " What is it Robin?"  
  
Robin: " See anything yet?"  
  
Raven: " See for yourself..."  
  
She waved it by her 3 partners. One whom which was completely facinated with the game, one whom which wore a rediculously large feathery hat, and one whom which was cheering alongside the afformentioned green titan. Raven looked back into her communicator.  
  
Raven: " Other than these people, I've seen nothing out of the ordinary."  
  
Robin: " I see. I haven't seen anything either. Neither has Cyborg. Well, I'm just checking in. Let me know if ANYTHING happens."  
  
Raven: " Right."  
  
She put her communicator away, then kept looking around. The second quarter passed by eventually, and so, the halftime show began. A stage was quickly put up and a band brought their insturments out and began playing. Each of the Titans took some sort of intermission. Beastboy and Starfire headed for the bathrooms, Terra went to take a quick walk and stretch her legs, and Raven continued to snoop around. The show was going just fine, until the music stopped suddenly only after a few minutes.   
  
This drew Raven's attention and she looked down at the stage. There, the other band members were laying on the stage, with a sole person just standing there in the center, holding a long black guitar. She narrowed her eyes and saw the lanky, black haired guy she'd met not too long ago. He looked up and picked her out of the crowd. He flashed her a smile and played some heavy guitar licks, allowing his music to echo throughout the stadium. He grabbed a mic and spoke out to the audience.  
  
Clive: " Ladies and Gentlemen...glad you could all make it here. Especially the Titans out there in the audience. I see you Raven, anyone else out there with ya?"  
  
Raven flew down to the stage. She landed not too far from Clive, and opened her communicator.  
  
Raven: " Robin, that guy's here."  
  
Robin: " No time! I'm tracking Slade!"  
  
Raven: " Don't worry, we'll handle it."  
  
Robin: " Just be careful."  
  
Raven put her communicator away. Clive smiled at her, then played a little more on the guitar he carried. Terra came back around next, and made her way next up to Raven.  
  
Terra: " So, who's this?"  
  
Clive: " I believe that's my line. Well now, I must say, being a Titan is looking pretty tempting. If I didn't have this current job, I might apply."  
  
Terra: " Sorry, but we don't hire losers! Ha ha!"  
  
Clive: " Ouch blondie. That's a hit below the belt. Hmmm...now that I think about it...you're quite unfamiliar to me. Got a name?"  
  
Terra: " Terra. You?"  
  
Clive: " Charmed Terra. Myself? Hmmm...I guess you can call me the singer in black. Yeah, it's cliche'...but it'll do for the moment."  
  
Beastboy and Starfire made their way over to the stage a few moments later. They all stood poised for combat, but no one was making the first move. Clive still held his guitar and talked on the mic.  
  
Clive: " Well now...four on one....that sure isn't too fair."  
  
Beastboy: " Give it up! You can't beat all of us like this!"  
  
Clive looked at Beastboy's pimp hat. He grinned and had a snicker or two about it.  
  
Clive: " Now that's style. 3 lovely ladies and a short green pimp. Sounds like something out of a cartoon or a fan fic."  
  
Starfire: " What do you mean? And why do you refer to Beastboy as a 'pimp'?"  
  
Clive: " Oh...I see. Well, I'll have to get back to you on that one. I guess it's time to put on my half time show."  
  
Beastboy: " Your half time show?"  
  
Clive: " Fight of the Century! The Teen Titans verses the mysterious Singer in Black. Well, that does sound corny...but it's just a temporary name. Something for the papers to use."  
  
Terra: " Don't think you're gonna get away!"  
  
Clive: " Well, it wouldn't be my first time. So, wanna do this one on one, or just free for all it?"  
  
Raven: " Don't listen to him. He's trying to trick you. Let's just detain him. Remember the plan?"  
  
Terra: " Yeah."  
  
Beastboy: " Got it."  
  
Starfire: " Yes I do."  
  
Beastboy: " Teen Titans, go!"  
  
And with that single phrase the Titans heard, the 4 of them sprang into action. Clive held steadily to his long black guitar as a Starbolt, a rock, a bull, and a speaker under the influence of Ravens powers, came flying at him. He hopped over the starbolt, dodged the speaker, spun around the charging Beastboy, and whacked the large rock that came flying at him with his Guitar. The rock shattered into a thousand pieces, and Clive stood there, now inbetween the 4 of them. They began to circle around him, trying to trap him between themselves. Terra caused more rocks to pull out of the ground and flung them at him. Clive spread his arms and his shadow spread along with them. Large black clawed arms sprout out of hit and circled him quickly, destroying each of the earthian project tiles before they could reach him. He then pulled them back and they all headed for Terra, grabing her by her arms and legs. Beastboy turned into a giant gorilla and grabbed Terra as well, making sure the shadows wouldn't take her. Raven then took more debris form the area and flung it at Clive, whom was busy trying to avoid starbolts by Starfire.  
  
The debris caught Clive in the back of the head and sent him sprawling across the floor at Starfire's feet. The shadow's grip over Terra faded away, so Beastboy set her down and checked to make sure she was alright. Starfire and Raven looked over the young man whom was laying on the ground. Raven checked for his pulse, seeing it was normal.  
  
Raven: " He's just unconscious."  
  
Starfire: " So what do we do with him?"  
  
Beastboy: " Well...I say we...hey!"  
  
Beastboy pointed out to the body of Clive and saw it had disappeared. Raven looked around worriedly, taking flight.  
  
Raven: " He should be least effective off the ground! Beastboy, get Terra off the ground!"  
  
Beastboy: " Alright..."  
  
He transformed himself into a Pterodactyl, then allowed Terra to climb on his back. He and Starfire both took flight, and they checked the grounds for him. Raven shook her head, not seeing him. Finally, after about 10 minutes, they allowed themselves to land.  
  
Terra: " What was that all about?"  
  
Raven: " He can travel as a shadow. Perhaps as a defense, when he goes unconscious like that, he would just turn into a shadow and escape."  
  
Beastboy: " You're probably right."  
  
Starfire: " Still...did that feel to easy?"  
  
Raven: " Definitely."  
  
Raven looked at the ground one last time, then her eyes widened at the sight. All the Titan's shadows were fine, except Terra's. It was bigger than she was, and it's hair was very long, flowing out of it's head in what looked like long pointy dreadlocks.  
  
Raven: " Terra! You're shadow!"  
  
Terra: " What? What are you talking about?"  
  
Raven: " Starfire, shoot for her shadow! He's hiding in it!"  
  
Starfire threw about a half dozen starbolts right there infront of Terra. When the smoke cleared, he wasn't there anymore. More precisely, he was behind Terra, holding her in a sort of detainment hold. His forearm was wrapped around her neck and her arms were bound behind her back. Clive kept her close.  
  
Clive: " Whew. That was a close one. I almost got zapped to kingdom come there. Slade wouldn't have been happy about that."  
  
Terra: " Hey! Let me go! Come on! Don't make me hurt you."  
  
Clive: " Sorry blondie, but I've still got a use for you."  
  
Raven: " Hiding behind a girl like that?"  
  
Clive: " Well...not really."  
  
Beastboy: " You coward! Using her to protect you."  
  
Clive: " Well...there's a reason you see..."  
  
He took a couple of steps back, pulling her along with him. The Titans gathered closer, following with him. He smiled, then shoved her forwards into Beastboy. He died it with enough force to knock Beastboy over into Raven. Had Starfire not been as strong as she was, she might have been knocked over the the whole team would have been bowled over. Still, it was a good enough ploy. Clive ran right after her and rammed Beastboy as he grabbed Terra. This knocked the pair over and since they were against Raven, it knocked them to the ground. Starfire still held her ground. Clive's facial expression changed to that of a surprise.  
  
Clive: " Wow. I thought you'd end up falling over with the rest of them. What's your secret?"  
  
Starfire: " I am much stronger than I look. I told you that before."  
  
Clive: " True. How about we find out then!"  
  
Clive rushed her and he grabbed her arms. She did the same and it looked much like a standard battle between 2 individuals, each one trying to contest the other's strength. Though Clive was a pretty strong guy for a human, he was only human, and Starfire's alien strength was swiftly pushing him backwards.  
  
Clive: " Ok...this...wasn't expected. Guess I could use a bit of help on this one."  
  
Clive's shadow reached up it's arms and supported Clive, intertwining it's fingers with his. Suddenly, Starfire's momentum stopped and they appeared even. Clive gave her a grin as they competed for the strongest.  
  
Clive: " Wow...you weren't lying!"  
  
Starfire: " Of course I was not! But...this is my natural strength...you use your powers..."  
  
Clive: " My powers...is a strength...but if you insist..."  
  
Clive used Starfire's strength against her by spinning and letting go of her. She fell forwards, but before she would hit the ground and land on her face, he caught her, setting her down softly. Afterwards, he jumped up into the air and landed in the seats of the stadium. Once he landed, Raven threw chairs and all sorts of things at him that she could get her powers a hold of. Clive reached into his shadow and pulled out that same black guitar he carried earlier, and knocked the chairs away from him. They fell all over the place, mangled and twisted beyond repair. Beastboy turned back into a Gorilla and began catching and throwing the broken chairs at Clive, who was now batting against both Raven and him. Finally, Terra joined by causing large stones to rip out of the ground and fly at him.  
  
Now, Clive wasn't some kind of weakling. He was battle a thousand up till this point, however, the flurry of projectiles became to much. They started hitting him, so to protect himself, he summomed those shadowy arms again, and they rotated around him fast enough to just knock everything away. They worked very well, up till Starfire decided to join in by tossing starbolts. Once again, it was very clear that her powers were something he could exactly protected himself from. Half a dozen starbolts just shot and ripped right through the protective arms, almost as if there was nothing there. They each hit in succession. Clive however, remained resilient to this. He staggered, but didn't fall. The black arms withdrew themselves, but that left him open to Starfire. She flew down, grabbing him by the arm. She threw him back onto the stage, crashing him into a drum set.  
  
The titans followed after him, then made a circle around him, making sure they would be in a position to not let him escape. He got up slowly and looked around to see them all ready. Finally he got on their feet, and they decided to strike before I got a chance to recover. Terra made the ground underneath them shake, knocking Clive off balance. Beastboy went for another charge as a bull, making contact with the black clad villain. As he went flying backwards, wires ripped out of the stage, catching and wrapping him up, holding him in place for a barrage of well placed Starbolts. Each hit with an amazing impact, knocking him around and destroying the wires. Each one tore his black suit and caused it to withdraw into the ground, until he was left standing there in just a simple pair of pants.  
  
Clive sighed, realizing that he may not be able to do this. He sunk down and laid out on his back. The Titans kept a bit of a distance from him, not sure whether he was truely defeated, or whether he was playing possum. Finally, he held his hand up into the air.  
  
Clive: " Alright...they got me a little by surprise on this one. Maybe it's to bright out here with all these stadium lights...heh heh. Tag old buddy...your in for round 2..."  
  
Starfire: " What are you talking about?"  
  
Beastboy: " I think he's lost it!"  
  
Terra: " He's crazy..."  
  
Raven: " No...wait...everyone! Get back!"  
  
Everyone stepped away as Clive got up. However, what was happening was far more unbelieveable than him getting up after getting the crap kicked out of him. Clive's eye's had become black, and the shadow his body cast was reaching up, grabbing a hold of him, and pulling itself up out of the ground. It eventually covered his own body, and then hunched over to a kneeling position. From there, a long black tail sprout, and then his limbs and abdomen got larger. Much large. Infact, when he stood back up, he was almost 8 feet tall. Long black, pointed dreadlocks grew from the monsters head. His skin had become black, but most of all, his face disappeared, leaving only a masked look on the monster with 2 large pale blue glowing eyes. It stared down at the 4 Titans infront of it, not saying anything. The Titan's backed up and Raven grabbed her communicator. Cyborg was closest, so she called him up.  
  
Cyborg: " What is it?"  
  
Raven: " Are you close by?"  
  
Cyborg: " I can be there in 10 minutes, is it important?"  
  
She showed the beast to Cyborg, whom just finished with a single line before cutting communications.  
  
Cyborg: " I'm on my way...just don't die on me!"  
  
The monster gave out a loud roar, and it made it's advance. 


	6. Football Friday Fight, part 2

The Captain: Yo! Thank you MerlRaven for the pleasent review! And for everyone reading this, I'm about as happy as I can be right now, even though I know I have to go to work. Anyways, I finally got my comic (Teen Titans Go, issue 4) titled My Crummy Valentine. Now, if you know anything about me and read any previous author notes, you'll know I'm not a Robin and Stafire kinda guy. Well, the comic went better than I thought (Robin and Starfire go on a Valentines day date). Well, go read it and find out what happens. None the less, I was very pleased with the outcome, and thus, it shall be basically the basis for some of the relationshiping in this story (however, Sarah shall not be making it into this fic...)  
  
Anyways, getting the issue, with how well I liked it, and getting a couple of good reviews on this and one of my other stories gives me great joy. I am now happy!  
  
Legal Tander: I don't own the Teen Titans. If I have to explain that any more...then I shall have to have Mad Mod reducate you. Mad Mod is watching you...  
  
Shadow Requiem: Football Friday Fight, Part 2  
  
Cyborg drove as fast as he could through the streets in order to get back to the stadium. He picked up on police channels that were talking about the fight inside. Cyborg had sweat running up and down his face as he drove. He was very worried about the others. He activated his communicator in his arm. He was contacting Robin.  
  
Robin: " What is it Cyborg?"  
  
Cyborg: " Man, something bad's goin' down at the stadium. I'm headin there and you should too!"  
  
Robin: " They'll be fine. It's that shadow guy. The 4 of them should be able to handle it."  
  
Cyborg: " Well, that wasn't the shadow guy I saw. I don't know what that was I saw. Raven seemed worried and it didn't look real nice man."  
  
Robin: " Look...I'm following Slade as we speak. He's just ahead of me. I have to go..."  
  
Cyborg: " Robin! Don't you hang up on me! ROBIN! ROBIN!"  
  
Robin had hung up on him. Cyborg grumbled a bit, then stepped on it. Cyborgs car rounded corners on streets with ease, but still, he was quite the distance away from the stadium. In the meantime, the Titans there were having a serious problem with the new threat. The beast stood up to it's full height, towering over all the Titans. Infront of it stood Beastboy and Terra. Behind it stood Starfire and Raven.   
  
Terra: " What is that?"  
  
Beastboy: " More like what do we do!"  
  
Raven: " Just calm down! Don't provoke it."  
  
Starfire: " What is going on here Raven?"  
  
Raven: " I don't know."  
  
The creature turned around and looked at Starfire and Raven. It took a step towards the pair, setting it's heavy, clawed foot on the ground infront of them. Leaning over, it stared at both the girls. It looked at Starfire for a moment, taking a moment to take in the awe in her eyes. It then turned towards Raven, which it also took a few moments to look into her eyes. She didn't show any kind of fear or anger, but something felt strange to her. The creature's eye then narrowed down, becoming much like daggers as it looked at Raven. It brought up it's large clawed hand and pointed directly to her, almost touching her nose. Terra fliched, thinking it was about to strike her.   
  
The creature somehow noticed this, and turned around quickly, almost like a defensive mechanism. It leaned over and took a couple of steps towards the other couple. They both held still, even under the cold gaze from the creature. It leaned down into Terra's face, looking her over. It then turned to Beastboy, who bit his lip trying not to do anything brash. It straightened itself and looked at the 2 of them. Finally, it turned back to Raven and reached out for her. It grabbed her by the cloak and pulled her close to it. This sparked Terra to try and defend her fellow titan.  
  
Terra: " Leave her alone!"  
  
Terra raised her arms and a large rock ripped itself out of the ground and was flung at the beast. The rock collided with the back of it's head, causing the monster to lurch forwards a bit. It turned around and threw Raven back at Terra, knocking the two of them down and out of the way. Beastboy transformed himself into a Tyrannosaurus and charged the creature, headbutting it with it's large head, knocking the beast back further. Starfire took to the air and kicked it in the chest, knocking it futher, until it hit one of the rails.   
  
It pulled itself back to it's full stance, and just in time. Another large rock flew through the air, aimed right for it's head. It grabbed the large rock and threw it to the ground infront of Terra, knocking her back down to the ground. Raven made one of the goal posts rip out of the ground and fly at their adversary, smashing it over the head until the poles broke. In turn, it reached fourth with it's hand made a grab for Raven. She flew out of the way, but it's arm seemed to grow, and it kept trying until Raven had no more room to run. It grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back to it. However, thanks to a well placed starbolt by Starfire, the creature dropped Raven.   
  
It grabbed the large smoking burn on it's body where it hit, and Starfire tossed a couple more it's way, smashing and exploding them all along it's body. Finally, the creature made an attack against Starfire, by slapping around for her. Finally, it was able to catch one of her legs, and tossed her to the ground. Afterwards, it jumped high into the air with a mighty roar, then landed on Beastboy's back. He grabbed his head and forced his mouth shut, then brought the large Tyrannosaurus to the ground. Beastboy changed back into his normal form to try and escape, but the creatures strength was too much for Beastboy to get away. Terra threw a third boulder at the monster, but it grabbed the boulder out of the air and retured with Beastboy, knocking the pair together. The force was so great that it infact knocked the pair out of the battle, laying them both across the ground. Another barrage of starbolts came at the creatures back, and so it used the boulder it held in order to absorb the damage.   
  
Afterwards, it reached out and grabbed Starfire out of the air again, but with it's attention held by her, a large piece of the stage was ripped off and used to hit the creature again. It turned it's attention to Raven, but again, got blasted with starbolts. It growled loudly, jumping away from the two titans. When it landed, it spun around, making it's long tail grow even longer and slap Raven in her side, knocking her into a nearby wall. Starfire's eye began to glow very brightly, and she started throwing bolt after bolt at the creature. It used every ounce of it's amazing agility to avoid the blasts. Pulling back a bit, it cracked it's tail at Starfire, missing her slightly. When it began to reel it back, Starfire grabbed a hold of it and pulled against the creature, bringing it towards her a bit.   
  
It pulled back, bringing them to a stalemate, until Starfire zapped it with the beams she could fire from her eyes. They shot right through the beasts body, entering and exiting through the chest of it. It fell down and grabbed it's chest, feeling a terrible burning sensation throughout it's body. Starfire held onto it's tail, then spun it around and smashed it into the ground. Raven finally got back up off the wall and walked over to it. She knelt down by it to look it over, but it sprang up quickly. Grabbing her, it turned around and evaded another star bolt, and finally did something about that problem. It dropped Raven, then ran for Starfire, intent on getting rid of it's biggest problem. She hit it directly to the face and chest with more starbolts, but it seemed to just shrug them off and use the pain to fuel it's temper. Finally, when it was close enough, it grabbed her and raised her into the air. Finishing, the creature tossed Starfire into it's own shadow, which became almost like a pool of quicksand, sucking and pulling Starfire into it. She traveled back through the world she was previously dragged through originally by Clive, and ended up re-emerging back at the Pizzeria they were very well aquainted with.  
  
Starfire: " What? Where am I?"  
  
Waitress: " Hey Starfire...what are you doing here? I thought you were on the TV fighting that thing?"  
  
Starfire: " I was...what happened?"  
  
Waitress: " I don't know. I just saw you disappear..."  
  
Starfire: " Oh...darn it!"  
  
Back at the stadium, it was now down to just Raven and the creature. It had her backed up against the broken down stage. It's long, pointy dreadlocks hung loosly and shook with each step it made. Raven made a shield around herself but was pretty sure it wouldn't hold that well.  
  
Raven: " What are you?"  
  
???: "..."  
  
Raven: " Can you not speak?"  
  
???: "..."  
  
Raven: " This is pointless..."  
  
The creature leaned into Raven. It penetrated right through her shield and brushed it's face close to hers. She closed her eyes, turning away.  
  
Raven: " What...what are you doing?"  
  
???: "...Yes...I see now..."  
  
Raven: " You can speak!"  
  
???: " Indeed girl...I'm very capable of speech."  
  
It's voice was very low and quite frightening to Raven. Though it wasn't that of some ethereal demon or whatnot, it did match it fairly well. It started to laugh quietly.  
  
Raven: " What's so funny?"  
  
???: " You are."  
  
Raven: " What does that mean?"  
  
???: " I would never forget that smell...you have it. I can smell it."  
  
Raven: " You...recognize my smell?"  
  
???: " It's not only that...you have his aura. You feel just like him."  
  
Raven: " Who are you talking about."  
  
???: " It's been 18 years child. You would not understand. Perhaps one day, I shall tell you."  
  
Raven: " Who are you?"  
  
Black: " You may call me Black..."  
  
Raven: " Your name is Black?"  
  
Black: " That is suitable enough..."  
  
Raven: " What are you then...Black?"  
  
Black: " Perhaps your greatest enemy...perhaps your best friend. Nothing is finite at the moment."  
  
Raven: " I don't understand..."  
  
Black: " In time. Now then...I must fulfill my purpose for the moment..."  
  
It latched it's large hands around Ravens body, then pulled her back, ready to throw her into the ground. Thankfully for Raven, a bright blue blast shot forth from up in the stands, and knocked her free from it's grip.   
  
Cyborg: " Booyah!"  
  
Black turned around to see Cyborg in the stands. He fired more shots, repelling the creature, but not really doing much else. Black thrashed around a bit, then fell to it's knees. Cyborg helped Raven up, and the pair approached the creature. It stood up, but then fell once again to it's knees. The large hole in it's chest made by Starfire began to glow brightly with a dark light. The light began flowing out of it, much like blood. It was thick and goopy, sticking to the ground and everything in it's way. Black got up slowly, wrapping it's tail around it's waist.  
  
Black: " My time is up in this world for now."  
  
Black faded afterwards, leaving only Raven and Cyborg on the field.  
  
Cyborg: " You alright?"  
  
Raven: " I'm always alright."  
  
Cyborg: " I mean physically."  
  
Raven: " Just bruised."  
  
Cyborg: " Well, let's get everyone gathered up and get out of here. This whole thing has been a big bust."  
  
Raven: " I agree. Let's go. We can talk about this when we're all together."  
  
So, the pair grabbed both Terra and Beastboy, then piled into the T-car. Cyborg went to get a sample of the blood or whatever came out of Black, but it disappeared before he could get a chance to sample it, so he left back for the car. Cyborg drove them back to the tower, where Starfire was waiting, since she didn't know what else to do. When they finally got back to the garage, Cyborg grabbed Terra and Beastboy, then carried them in, alongside Raven. Starfire greeted them upon their arrival.  
  
Starfire: " You are alright!"  
  
Raven: " Yes, we're fine."  
  
Starfire: " But what of Terra and Beastboy?"  
  
Cyborg: " They're ok. They just need some rest."  
  
Starfire: " Wonderful. And you are undamaged as well Cyborg?"  
  
Cyborg: " Yeah, I'm fine. Just my pride is a little hurt."  
  
Starfire: " What do you mean?"  
  
Cyborg: " Well...we got lucky in that fight. I must have got there just in time really. I mean, when I did get there, I just saw Raven standing up. These 2 were laid out on the ground, and you weren't anywhere to be seen."  
  
Starfire: " I am sorry...I was taken back through that dark place again. I ended up at the place of the pizza."  
  
Cyborg: " I see. What happened to these two?"  
  
Raven: " They were thrown into each other."  
  
Cyborg: " So, we got lucky."  
  
Raven: " Had Starfire not wounded it before, we may not have gotten so lucky."  
  
Cyborg: " I know. I was just knocking it away with my blaster. Didn't seem like it was doing much else."  
  
The 3 set Terra and Beastboy down the the couch, then walked over to the table and took their seats.  
  
Cyborg: " Ok...here's my first real question...what was that?"  
  
Starfire: " I do not know. It came from that guy."  
  
Raven: " It calls itself Black."  
  
Cyborg: " Ok...so it's got a name. And it came from that guy who's workin for Slade?"  
  
Starfire: " So it would seem. We were able to defeat the guy with all of our teamwork. He fell over and I thought he was beaten...but then he became that monster."  
  
Cyborg: " Great. So now we have to beat him AND that thing."  
  
Raven: " By the way...where is Robin?"  
  
Cyborg: " Don't get me started Raven..."  
  
Starfire: " Why? Is Robin ok?"  
  
Cyborg: " Oh, he's fine! Just fine. So fine infact that he didn't even have to help us. He said he was chasing Slade."  
  
Raven: " And so, he couldn't spare a moment to help us?"  
  
Starfire: " I'm sure he must have been really close to Slade..."  
  
Cyborg: " Maybe Star...but is it worth it?"  
  
Starfire: "...."  
  
Cyborg: " I think we need to talk with him again. Because I would have given up chasing Slade for that situation."  
  
Raven: " Well, let us not dwell on it anymore. We need to focus on the problems at hand. Namely, what are we to do now?"  
  
Raven still had her hood pulled up. That wasn't too much like her, since she usually only brought it up when she was scared, embarassed, or in battle. The main reason though, was because she was feeling quite a bit scared and nervous. She decided not to mention anything about what Black had said to her, and would meditate on it later.   
  
Cyborg: " Well, I think maybe we should just take some time and chill. That's what I want to do. Just forget about today and try again tomorrow."  
  
Starfire: " Perhaps you are right."  
  
Raven: " Then I'll be in my room if you need me."  
  
Cyborg: " Alright..."  
  
Starfire: " May I join you Raven?"  
  
Raven: " Sure...why not."  
  
Starfire left her seat with Raven heading for Raven's room, hoping to do some meditating with her. Cyborg got up and sat on the couch, playing on of his standard racing games. Eventually, Beastboy and Terra started to stir about, and eventually woke up, mere moments from each other. The groggy green titan looked around, realizing where he was.  
  
Beastboy: " Awww man! I got beat again?"  
  
Cyborg: " Good to see you're up. How you feeling?"  
  
Beastboy: " I'm alright. Just a little sore."  
  
Terra: " Hey! What's going on? How'd I get here?"  
  
Cyborg: " I brought you guys back here."  
  
Terra: " Did we win?"  
  
Cyborg: " Yes and no."  
  
Beastboy: " What's that mean?"  
  
Cyborg: " Well...we got our butts kicked. We made that thing retreat, but we just got lucky."  
  
Terra: " That's not good. And what about Robin? Where's he been?"  
  
Cyborg: " Chasing Slade. I haven't heard from him in a while. I've put out a couple of calls, but he isn't answering. His communicator's still active though, so he's probably still after him."  
  
Beastboy: " Shouldn't someone go after him?"  
  
Cyborg: " Why? He didn't come and help us! Maybe if he was there, you two wouldn't have been knocked out! And maybe Starfire wouldn't have been transported out of there! AND MAYBE RAVEN WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BEATEN AROUND LIKE SHE WAS! YOU KNOW?"  
  
Terra: " Calm down Cyborg...everyone's fine...so let's not worry about it."  
  
Cyborg: " I am calm! I'm about as calm as anyone should be in this situation!"  
  
Beastboy: " Hey...don't be that way Cy..."  
  
Cyborg took a deep breath and sighed.  
  
Cyborg: " Sorry you guys...I guess I'm just a little upset with this whole thing."  
  
Terra: " It's alright Cyborg..."  
  
Cyborg got up and stretched.  
  
Cyborg: " I'm gonna go let off some steam in the practice room. I'll see you guys later."  
  
Cyborg walked off, leaving Terra and Beastboy on the couch alone. The two titans just flipped on the television and let that entertain their brains for the moment. Hours later, Robin finally came back, walking into the tower quietly, and went into his room without waking anyone. 


	7. Ambush

The Captain: This is your captain speaking...just wanting to say that last one was an alright chapter. A little shorter than they have been, but eh. It was mostly for the finish of the fight with Black, as he calls himself. I plan to start revealing more plot soon, and maybe even someone might go on a date or something. I've had some revelations about the story in my dreams.really. Whatever it may be, I'm enjoying what I'm coming up with. And actually, this fic will spin off another fic with another character from the show, but that will be in time.   
  
Also...how about that new episode? Great huh. I've had my reservations concerning Terra and now particularly...(plus what I know of the comic) so this just adds to them. Remember, the animated series and the comic book Teen Titan's Go! will both influence my story as needed.  
  
Oh, this one may have some spelling errors. I swear upon my magical rune hammer that one day, I'm gonna get a spell check program and run all my stories through it. The internet one I'm using sucks.  
  
Legal Tander: I don't own the Teen Titans. I DON'T OWN THE TEEN TITANS! I don't own the Teen Titans. I DON'T OWN THE TEEN TITANS!  
  
Shadow Requiem: Ambush  
  
When the next morning came, only Cyborg was up in the usual early AM hour. Of course, he liked to go out for a nice morning jog before everyone was up. He and Robin were usually the first two up, followed closely by Raven, then Beastboy and Starfire. They usually slept in the latest, sometimes as late as 11am, but not much after. However, today...it was 7am and only Cyborg was up. He shrugged off the idea as he walked outside and made his way to the city. He would use the large speed boat they had docked just infront of the tower. This was one of their many ways to the mainland.   
  
So, Cyborg would go for a run throughout the streets. It was a common sight to see him around town. He was probably the most overall sociable of all the Titans. Usually friendlier than Robin, more respective and mature than Beastboy, not quite as doom and gloomy like Raven, and much more knowledgeable and less overly perky as Starfire. His usual route took him through the main street by the bay where the Tower was located.  
  
Cyborg would then take that street north along the main road which would take him by City Hall. There, he would make his way up the next street which was up a large hill. Then, he would make another right and head for an apartment complex. He'd use the emergency stairs to climb up to the roof tops, then make his way through the city by jumping from building to building. This was how he liked to exercise in the early morning. However, there was an unusually low number of people outside today. Usually, there would be more people waving and calling out to him as he passed over head, but today...the streets were pretty empty. Now, it was Saturday, but still, there should be more people out.  
  
Cyborg shrugged off his strange feeling, then made his way back to the Tower. There, on the doorstep was the daily paper. He never really questioned how it was delivered, but it was always there when he got back each morning. He brought it inside and set it on the table, then grabbed a glass of water out of the refrigerator. He sat down and started to open up the paper when Raven came down to join him.  
  
Cyborg: " Mornin' Raven."  
  
Raven: " Good morning..."  
  
Cyborg: " Feeling better?"  
  
Raven: " Some."  
  
Cyborg: " Well that's good news. Hey, I'm gonna make some waffles...how about some?"  
  
Raven: " Sure...why not."  
  
So Cyborg got up and started up the waffle iron. He got out the ingredients and started to mix the batter. Then, he added his extra special ingredient that made his waffles so great, and then added the mix to the waffle iron. Raven got up and made some of her favorite herbal tea, then sat back down, unraveling the paper. She read the headlines on the front page and a bit of the story, then slapped the paper down on the table and got up. Cyborg heard the commotion and looked over.  
  
Cyborg: " Where you going? And what's wrong?"  
  
Raven: " Those headlines are what's wrong, and I have to use the bathroom. If you will excuse me now..."  
  
She walked off, so while she was away, Cyborg grabbed the paper and looked at the headlines.  
  
'CAN THE TITANS PROTECT US?'  
  
Cyborg read on further. His large, powerful hands began to crumple the paper as he was holding it.  
  
' Yesterday evening, during the big game between the Jump City Jacks and the Spade City Aces, an unknown person attacked the stage and called out the Teen Titans in the audience. The man only identified himself as 'the Singer in Black' which leads us to believe that he wishes to keep his real name a secret. Unfortunately, due to some kind of technical difficulties which we believe may have been sabatage, we have no video or pictures of any kinds of this individual. He reportedly wore black, with a pair of large yellow goggles to cover his face. The person fought with 3 of the Titans, Beastboy, Raven, and Starfire, as well as another individual whom which seems to be related to the Titans. However, we have no information on the young girl at this time.  
  
The fight took place for a duration of a half hour. At one point, it seemed that the Titans had the situation under control...however,the assailant became some kind of monster, and almost defeated the Titans. They were able to defeat the menace, but this now raises some concerns. How safe is our city really? Even with the Titans protecting the town, it seems that they just aren't good enough.'  
  
Cyborg stopped reading there, throwing the paper across the room. By then, Raven was sitting back at the table.  
  
Raven: " I see you didn't like the front page story either..."  
  
Cyborg: " OH YOU BET I DIDN'T!"  
  
Raven: " Calm down. No point in getting mad about it now."  
  
Cyborg: " Stop it with that calm down business! Now the people aren't gonna trust us to do anything!"  
  
Raven: " Then let them worry about it. We haven't entirely lost their faith. It's just a single battle."  
  
Cyborg: " Not from what I just read! Next thing you know, they're gonna tear down the Tower and kick us all out! Then we won't have anything else to do!"  
  
Raven: " Enough! We can discuss this with the team."  
  
Cyborg sighed, turning and getting the waffles out of the iron.  
  
Cyborg: " I hate how you're almost always right..."  
  
Raven gave a half smile, which was pretty good to see under even just normal conditions. Cyborg cranked out the waffles and put them on a pair of plates, then brought those out to the table with some butter and syrup. He set them down, then ran back to fetch some silverware. He brought them back, and then took a seat next to Raven. The pair sat down eating fairly quietly. That was when Robin showed up, walking silently into the kitchen. The pair eyed him as he took some of the spare batter and made himself a waffle. One of Cyborgs large metallic fists started to ball tightly, crunching his poor fork. Raven reached over and put a hand over his, shaking her head. He sighed, knowing that it wouldn't help anything to get up and start yelling at the moment, so he sighed and put his fork down.  
  
Robin came back to the table when his waffle was finished, then buttered it and poured on his syrup. He sat quietly at the back end of the table, away from Cyborg and Raven. He probably knew they were mad at him, especially Cyborg. So, now the 3 of them ate quietly at the table. It was quite eerie considering you'd think 3 teenaged friends ought to be gabbing it up quite a bit. So, this continued through breakfast, and when Robin was finished, he moved on and placed his plate in the sink. Afterwards, he left back for the evidence room, locking the door and himself away. Cyborg got up after he finished his plate.  
  
Cyborg: " Well...I'm gonna do a little training. Care to join me?"  
  
Raven: " Might as well..."  
  
Cyborg and Raven left the table, following Robins footsteps and placing their plates in the sink. Afterwards, they headed outside to one of the training areas. Raven looked around and saw a few good sized stones she could start with.  
  
Cyborg: " So how about we start with a little ping pong?"  
  
Raven: " That would be fine."  
  
She picked up 4 of the stones off the ground and made them float all around her. They began spinning faster and faster until they were almost a blur. Finally, she threw them at Cyborg, who caught each one consecutively in his large hands. He returned them with equal and greater speeds, which made Raven concentrate a great deal harder as she caught them before they would hit her. She would in turn throw them back at him again, with a greater force. This was one of their usual training exercises. Strange as it may seem, but Raven was closer to Cyborg than most would think. Much like she is with Starfire as well.  
  
They continued this exercise, which was one of their usual training exercises. They went into others, usually which included Raven throwing large rocks for Cyborg to work on his aim, or even some light combat training to make sure Raven could still deal with an opponent using her basic hands and feet as weapons.   
  
Finally, eleven o'clock came around, and that's about when the last 3 started to come around. Starfire was the first to come downstairs from her room after getting showered. She didn't see anyone around though, so she began to wander around the area nearby to see if she could find anyone. She found Beastboy and Terra on the couch. They had just parked themselves there the previous night. Terra had the blanket over her and Beastboy had turned into a cat, rolling up into a ball and falling asleep at her feet. Still, they were asleep, and there was no sign of Raven, Cyborg, or Robin anywhere. Starfire decided that perhaps they were just doing the hanging out somewhere, so she should probably just scrounge something up to eat.  
  
She dug through the fridgerator, pushing most of the blue and fuzzy food into the back, searching out that which wasn't fuzzy. She found some lunch meat, so she took that out and got some bread out of the cupboard. She made a large ham sandwich with lots of mustard, pickles, and some cheese. She sat down at the table and ate her sandwich quietly. She decided that afterwards, she'd find someone to hang out with. So, finishing her sandwich in just a few bites, she took off looking for anyone.   
  
First she tried the evidence room. Robin was always one of the first people up, and since he wasn't at the table or playing gamestation, he might be in there. So she made her way to the evidence room. She tried to open the door, but it was locked, so she knocked quietly.  
  
Starfire: " Robin? Robin...are you there?"  
  
Robin: " I'm busy..."  
  
Starfire: " You should come out and do the hanging out with us."  
  
Robin: " I'm busy."  
  
Starfire: " Please Robin? You are worrying me and the others!"  
  
Robin: " I'm busy!"  
  
Starfire: " Then perhaps I can help you?"  
  
Robin: " I'm busy Starfire!"  
  
Starfire: " Robin...I..."  
  
Robin: " I'm busy! Ok? Just go away."  
  
Starfire: " Robin...you...you are so mean!"  
  
Starfire took off running away from the evidence room. Her eyes were teary and she had a frown spread out across her face. She made her way to the top of the tower, falling down to a seated position, wrapping her arms around her legs and pulling them against herself in a sort of fetal position. She rested her head into her chest, sobbing softly. After about a half an hour, she stood up shakily. It started to rain, which only seemed to make Starfire's day more sad. She took to the air and just flew off, not sure where she was going to go or what she was going to do. She just wanted to get out of there and take some time to think.  
  
She began just flying around the city. Her eyes were still glossy from the tears she wept, but no one on the ground could tell, as she was just way to high.   
  
She flew over the residents of the city, and was finally starting to calm down and get a hold of herself, when out of nowhere, a ball of electricity shot out towardsher, smacking into her back and knocked her into the top of a building. She landed, leaving a small crater where she impacted, then rolled a few more feet outside of it. She got up, a bit dazed and confused as to what was going on. Suddenly, a large person came charging right at her, slamming it's shoulder straight into her body, knocking her back and against the brick wall, leaving her slightly indented into it. She fell down off the wall, landing firmly on her front side, then slowly pushed herself up, only to see a dazzeling pink wave flying all around her. With that, the roof started to shake, and collapsed within itself. The building caved in as well, and when the dust was clear, Starfire was under the rubble.   
  
After about a period of 2 minutes, a large piece of concrete and brick started to shake briefly, before it was hoisted up and tossed aside. Starfire climbed her way back up to the surface, and then looked around to see herself surrounded by all sorts of people. They were gawking at her, not sure of what has happened, and wondering if she was the one who created the mess in the first place. She floated up off the ground again, brushing her bruised and battered self off, and was about to take off, until that ball of electricity shot out and hit her once again.  
  
It blew her into the ground, causing people to go scattering. She got up, this time forcing herself to get up and face her persuers, whomever they may be. And when she did, a large fist came into contact with her stomach. Still, she stretched her neck and forced herself to see her attack, whom which was Mammoth. He grabbed her with his other hand and threw her down into the ground. Gizmoboy landed on the ground beside her, and Jinx walzed out afterwards, all three of them standing over her.  
  
Gizmoboy: " Well, look what we caught! Looks like Slade was right. Now let's get her out of here."  
  
Mammoth: " Come on baby...we're gonna take you somewhere nice and unsafe."  
  
Jinx: " Too bad none of your little friends are here to save you now."  
  
Mammoth grabbed Starfire by the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. Gizmoboy and Jinx followed them, and walked down the street. Starfire started to come to, and once she realized what was going on, she thrashed about until she was able to break free from his grasp. She ran for it, very frantic and not too certain as to what she was to do. She limped halfway down the street before getting cornered up in an allyway in the warehouse district. From there, the 3 members of the Hive closed in.  
  
Mammoth: " Sorry girly, but we've got our orders. But I'm glad that you're trying to resist..."  
  
Starfire: " Please stay away from me..."  
  
Gizmoboy: " What...and not take advantage of this great opportunity? Do you think we're the pitsniffers here? Loser!"  
  
Starfire: " I do not wish to hurt you...but if you force me to, I will."  
  
Jinx: " You and what army? You're hurt, and alone against the 3 of us."  
  
Starfire: " But..."  
  
Starfire started to think frantically, and decided to just give it a final go. She started throwing starbolts wildly, hitting everything in the ally. Trash cans, pavement, walls, roofs, pipes, Hive members, and even the grassy ground were all blasted to pieces by her barrage of energy. Unfortunately, this brought the buildings down around her, and she once again was covered by rubble.  
  
Hours later, in the living room back at Titans Tower...  
  
Raven: " Has anyone seen Starfire?"  
  
Cyborg looked back from the video game he was playing with both Terra and Beastboy. He paused it, and the three turned around.  
  
Cyborg: " Not really. I guess I've just been to busy to notice."  
  
Beastboy: " I wouldn't worry about her. She's probably celebrating another one of her whacky holidays. Remember that one where she had to spend three days standing on her head?"  
  
Terra: " She spent 3 days standing on her head?"  
  
Cyborg: " Don't remind me. But she did that all in her room, right? So if she's not there...then where is she?"  
  
Raven: " Perhaps we should ask Robin..."  
  
Robin came down the stairs, almost as if on cue.  
  
Robin: " I haven't seen her. I heard her run out of the tower, but that's about it."  
  
Cyborg: " Hold on there...we have to talk Robin."  
  
Robin: " Later. I'm busy."  
  
Cyborg: " What could you be so busy with that would be more important than your friends?"  
  
Robin: " I'm not going to answer that question..."  
  
Cyborg: " Then why don't you act like a member of this team?"  
  
Raven: " Calm down. I'll just look for her...hold on..."  
  
Raven placed her hands on her temples and started chanting loudly. She could see images of the city, and then she saw the warehouse district. There, she saw a pair of collapsed buildings and large amounts of damage all over the place, undoubtedly made by her starbolts. Raven opened her eyes afterwards.  
  
Raven: " She's been attacked at the warehouse district. That's all I can see."  
  
Robin: " Come on Titans...let's go."  
  
Robin and the rest of the Titans made their way to the warehouse district. By land in car and cycle, and by air, through wing and flying rocks. None the less, they made it to the scene where the 5 of them started to look around. They dug up the rubble quickly, finding nothing there. However, Cyborg found some hairs, an orange one and a pink one, as well as a small gadget. He analyzed them.  
  
Cyborg: " You guys..."  
  
Beastboy: " What is it Cy?"  
  
Cyborg: " I just found a hair from Jinx and Mammoth. This little gadget here mush be one of Gizmobrat's. Looks like she may have been kidnapped."  
  
Terra: " We must get her back!"  
  
Raven: " Let me see if I can find her again. Maybe I can get some kind of idea where she is."  
  
Robin: " Start working on that. The rest of us should start searching. Titans, spread out and search the city!"  
  
Raven began to meditate and search the city for her friends whereabouts. She also started searching for the Hive, however, she was unable to find either. So, she continued to do this while the other Titan's dispersed and searched the city.  
  
At 11:30pm, 3 hours later, in a small apartment in the inner city, Starfire woke up on a small bed. She sat up slowly and looked around, getting a brief feel for her surroundings. She looked down at herself and saw that she wasn't wearing her usual clothing, but rather a very long hawaiian shirt that was fully buttoned up in order to keep herself fully covered. She slowly started to get up, and took a step off the bed she was laying on. The room she was in was decked out with white walls. Posters of all sorts of people were all over the walls, most whom which she didn't know of. She passed by a dresser that had a large vanity mirror on it. She looked at herself, and saw that she had a bandage on her head and on both her arms. Her left arm was bandaged around her shoulder and forearm, and her right arm had more bandages on her forearm.   
  
She felt her stomach and found more bandages there too. She felt sore all over, but didn't feel any kinds of damage to her body, outside of any bruises. She wandered to the door and opened it. On the outside, the name Sherri was printed on a plaque connected to it. Starfire continued down the hall and passed by another room with the door closed. She went to open it, but it was locked. Further down, she passed by a bathroom. Finally, she walked into the main living room. There, a girl was sitting on the couch, folding laundry. The girl was shorter than Starfire was, probably about 5'2, and was slim. She had long blond hair that draped down about her mid back, with pretty blue eyes and fair skin. She looked up, hearing Starfire walk in.  
  
Girl: " Oh, you're awake!"  
  
Starfire: " Where am I?"  
  
Girl: " Oh, you're at my house. My name's Sherri."  
  
Starfire: " Greetings Sherri..."  
  
Sherri: " Are you ok? You look a lot better! How's those wounds of yours?"  
  
Starfire: " My wounds?"  
  
Sherri: " Yeah. When I saw you, you were filthy dirty, with all sorts of scrapes and bruises. So I made sure I bandaged you up."  
  
Starfire: " But where did these clothes come from?"  
  
Sherri: " Well, I hope you don't mind...you were soaking wet, so I changed you ought of your clothes so you wouldn't get sick. Since you're a little tall for anything of mine, I just put you in some of my big brothers clothes!"   
  
Starfire: " I thank you...but how did I get here?"  
  
Sherri: " My brother found you. Left his job and brought you back here since we don't live to far. He should be coming back soon."  
  
Starfire: " Oh. So...what should I do?"  
  
Sherri: " Rest I guess. Hey, you're Starfire right? From the Teen Titans?"  
  
Starfire nodded. She wasn't too sure what to think at the moment. She didn't know who this Sherri girl was, where she was, or what she was to do.  
  
Starfire: " So...what happened to me?"  
  
Sherri: " My brother said you were under all this building rubble. He dug you out and brought you back here."  
  
Starfire: " I see. So...who are you?"  
  
Sherri: " I'm Sherri! Sherri Vulcan, pleased to meet you."  
  
Starfire: " I am Starfire."  
  
Sherri: " Well then Starfire, are you hungry? Because I made some supper a little bit ago. I was expecting my brother sooner, but he called and said he was gonna be late."  
  
Starfire: " Well...I don't want to intrude...but..."  
  
Starfire's stomach growled loudly. She blushed afterwards.  
  
Sherri: " Sounds like I've got a guest for dinner."  
  
She brought Starfire over to the table, where she set down a few plates. There, she dished out some food to each of the 3 plates. It was meatloaf, some potatoes, green beans, and milk to drink, all around the table. The two girls sat down and started eating. Starfire ate quickly, not realizing how hungry she was. Soon, under the bewildering gaze of Sherri, she was finished with her plate of food and her glass of milk.   
  
Sherri: " Wow...that was fast. Even my brother doesn't eat that fast."  
  
Starfire blushed and grinned widely, showing off her more humble side.  
  
Starfire: " I am very hungry still. Would it be too much to ask for another helping?"  
  
Sherri: " Not at all. I made a ton. My brother eats a lot too. You're just like him it seems."  
  
Starfire: " You speak very highly of your brother. He must be a nice person."  
  
Sherri: " Yeah, I love him. He's a big goof though. Eats and lot and sleeps in until you wave some food under his nose."  
  
Starfire: " Wave food under his nose? Is that some kind of waking ritual?"  
  
Sherri: " Not really. But if he's sleeping, that's about the only way to wake him up."  
  
Starfire: " Oh..."  
  
Sherri piled much more food on Starfire's plate. Starfire started eating again. Then, the girls heard the door open. A young man stepped inside, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and long sleeved black shirt. He looked over to see a very wide eyed Starfire. She got up and pointed at him.  
  
Starfire: " You! It is you! What are you doing here?"  
  
Clive took off his coat and tossed it on the couch, then kicked off his boots in the doorway.  
  
Clive: " I live here." 


	8. Friend or Foe, part 1

The Captain: Hey fellow fans of all sorts! I'm back with another really long one here. I've been trying to figure a way to end this chapter, and this was the best I could. But it's a good way to do it I think. Another 2 parter for ya's! Perhaps I'll get the second half up by tuesday or wednesday! How was that last episode of Teen Titans? Speedy was great! I might use him later...   
  
Legal Tander: I wish I owned the Titans...I wish I owned the Titans....I wish I owned the Titans...  
  
Damn, it worked for Dorothy...  
  
Shadow Requiem: Friend or Foe, part 1  
  
An ackward silence filled the room. Starfire stood poised against the wall with a finger pointed out at Clive, the person whom which she and her friends had a huge fight with the evening before. Clive just sat there, not moving at all under the pressure of her sudden accusations. But suddenly, the smell of food caught his nose, and a large and loopy smile crossed his face. He ran towards Starfire, who's eyes and hands were glowing, ready to blast him with her energy. However, he stopped just short of her, seeing his plate on the table. He shoveled a few spoon loads into his mouth, chewing quickly and swallowing it all in a single gulp. Starfire's eyes widened, realizing she got so worked up over nothing. She slowly sat back down at the table, on the opposite side of him.   
  
Sherri: " Are you ok? Starfire was about to blast you. You must have scared her."  
  
Clive finished another half a plate of food and looked up with a bit of a dumb look.  
  
Clive: " Hmm? Oh, I'm fine! Just really really hungry. I didn't get a lunch break, so I was just famished!"  
  
Sherri: " Your such a dork."  
  
Clive: " Hey, I've been called worse, so I take that..."  
  
Sherri: " As a compliment. I know I know. I've heard that one from you a million times."  
  
Clive: " Well then, you should know better. May I please have more?"  
  
Sherri: " I made plenty extra. Though, Starfire's still got another plate on you!"  
  
Clive: " WHAT?"  
  
He looked over at Starfire, whom which was chowing down quickly on her food. Clive gave her a challenging look, then piled more food on his plate.  
  
Clive: " You've got nothing on me."  
  
Starfire: " What do you mean? Was I supposed to put something on you."  
  
He continued watching her as he shoveled more food into his mouth, barely chewing before he swallowed it down again. Starfire was very confused about the whole situation. He wasn't being mean, and he didn't act sad. He was acting...strange. Even to her knowlege of human standards. He finished his second plate quickly, piling on more food.  
  
Sherri: " Oh come on! Be nice to her! She is technically your guest!"  
  
Clive: " Yeah...I guess your right. Starfire, eat all you like."  
  
Starfire: " Oh, I'm full."  
  
Clive: " Really?"  
  
Starfire: " Indeed. I had 4 plates."  
  
Clive: " Oh. You must have been eating while I wasn't here then. So be it!"  
  
Clive cranked it into overdrive, gulping down large amounts of food, finishing off his 3rd plate, then shoveling more food onto it. He just ate. He really didn't take the time to savor flavor or anything of the sorts. His food just got shoveled into his mouth, and everything ended up just being blended together. He smiled after polishing off his fourth plate, pushing it back and letting out a heavy sigh. Starfire watched him in some awe, as she had never seen anyone really eat like that since Terra had arrived originally.  
  
Starfire: " You have quite the appitite."  
  
Clive: " Well, I work all day, so I build up a big one."  
  
Starfire: " I see."  
  
Sherri: " Well brother...would you help me clear the table?"  
  
Clive: " Certainly sis. I wash, you dry?"  
  
Starfire: " I wish to help. You have done much for me and I have done nothing but be a burden to you both."  
  
Clive: " Now now miss Starfire, you're our guest. Just make yourself feel welcome."  
  
Sherri: " Yeah."  
  
So Clive and Sherri went right to work, putting away the very few leftovers that the 3 of them had in small tupperware containers. Sherri would put them in the refrigerator while Clive would clean out the pans in the sink. The pair finished the dishes quickly, and then walked back to the living room together, greeting Starfire again.  
  
Clive: " Sorry about that Starfire. We try to stay on top of messes around here. Since I'm not around much, I try to make sure I do my fair share around here."  
  
Starfire: " That is just fine."  
  
Starfire had some questions kicking around in her head. She really wanted to ask them, but felt she should do it on a more personal level.  
  
Starfire: " I would like to talk to you...in private if it is alright."  
  
Clive: " In private? Sure, I guess. Hey sis, you mind making yourself scarce for a little while?"  
  
Sherri: " Sure. I need to work on my homework anyways."  
  
Clive: " You still haven't finished it? Good thing this is a weekend so you can get your sleep."  
  
Sherri: " Well...I'm having some trouble with a part of it. Maybe you could explain it to me."  
  
Clive: " Well, what's it in?"  
  
Sherri: " English."  
  
Clive: " Alright. Let's go see what it is. I'll be right back Starfire, so we can talk."  
  
Starfire: " That is fine. I understand."  
  
Clive walked back into Sherri's room where she showed him the homework she had. Starfire sat quietly and watched a pair of cats walk by. One was short fured orange, with a peach or tangerine stripes going down it's body, with white underbelly fur and legs. The second cat had longer hair that made it look much bigger than it was. It had a mix of blacks, browns, and dark grays in it's fur. Both had green eyes and were very lean. She looked around more and saw a small waste paper basket by her feet. There were envelopes and letters in it with large red lettering reading either Overdue, Pastdue, Failure to Pay, or Insufficient Funds. She leaned in and read them more, seeing that they were bills and over draft notices from the bank.   
  
It was then that Starfire really took a look at the apartment. There was only a single couch, a small TV and a game station in the living room. Sure, there was a small table and even a coffee table, but that was about it. It was all fairly bare. Clive came back a few minutes later, making sure that Sherri's door was closed. It was a small apartment after all.  
  
Clive: " So Starfire, how are you feeling?"  
  
Starfire: " I am sore all over, but I am undamaged."  
  
Clive: " Ah, good to hear. So what did you want to talk with me about?"  
  
Starfire: " Well, I first want to know what your name is?"  
  
Clive: " My name? Oh...I see. Now that I think about it, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name's Clive. Clive Vulcan, at your service!"  
  
Starfire: " I also wanted to know what you're doing in Slade's service."  
  
Clive: " Funny you should mention that one. I woke up back in Slade's headquarters, which must have been where Black took me. Slade...wasn't exactly happy about the outcome. He said I mostly did what he wanted, but I didn't do what he wanted fully. So, he broke our contract, and now I'm just plain old Clive."  
  
Starfire: " I see. So you are no longer our enemy?"  
  
Clive: " Yep. I never wanted to be anyways. But I didn't have a choice."  
  
Starfire: " Why?"  
  
Clive: " Well, I don't mind getting into fights and put a beat down on someone who deserves it...but I'm not big on the whole causing random destruction and hurting people just for the sake of badguyism. Not really my style.  
  
Starfire: " So, can you tell me now why you were with Slade?"  
  
Clive: " Well..."  
  
He looked to the ground and gave a puzzled look. Starfire followed his vision to try and see what he was looking at. On the ground, Clive's shadow was moving, waving it's arms and pointing to her. She began to tense up. Clive looked over at Starfire.  
  
Clive: " Is that true Starfire?"  
  
Starfire: " Is what true?"  
  
Clive: " Black says you were looking in my trash bin and saw some of my bills and such."  
  
Starfire: " I did not mean to originally. But the large red print attracted my eyes. I am sorry, I did not mean to be rude."  
  
Clive sighed and looked down, a little red.  
  
Clive: " Well, that's why I worked with Slade. I barely make enough money to pay the rent and such. That's why I work such long hours. Slade came to me, knowing that I was in both debt and over my head with some of the bills. I could just live on my own, but then Sherri would have to live with some foster family, and we'd rather stay together. So, I really didn't have another choice but to take his offer. That way, I could keep the bills paid and such. But now, he's withdrawn all the money he's paid recently, and these arrived this morning. Looks like I'm just going to have to find something to do to earn some fast money."  
  
Starfire: " I understand now. I have another question...who is Black?"  
  
Clive: " Black? Hah! Black, the other worldy, ethereal, interdimensional,transcending, omnicent, blah blah blah, Lord of the Shadow World, King of all Evil...the Darkness of Men..."  
  
Starfire: " Is that who he is?"  
  
Clive: " Something like that, so he says. His story changes each time. It comes down to that he's my Shadow. But he'll tell you that I'm infact his Shadow...But whatever the case, that's him down there."  
  
Clive pointed to the ground, where she saw the shadow of the monster they fought. It waved to her and she waved back nervously.  
  
Starfire: " What is that?"  
  
Clive: " You met him...that's Black. He's just a shadow really. My Shadow. He says he saw you look through the papers in the trash."  
  
Starfire: " But how? You were in the other room?"  
  
Black walked off, leaving Clive shadowless. He held out his hands as if demonstrating the fact that Black didn't have to be in the same place all the time.  
  
Clive: " See, Black doesn't have to be connected to me all the time. Unless I summon him back, he can just take off and wander the city if he wanted. But if I need him, I just summon him and he'll be back, quick as a whistle."  
  
Starfire: " Wonderous. And can he use your powers?"  
  
Clive: " Technically yes...but he can't use them to the extent I can. Old Black there says that he was wounded many years ago, and can't take a physical form for very long on his own. But, he can use my body as a vessle of sorts, and stay around for a greatly extended period of time. Though I can use the powers we share more extensively, he can do much more. But, he can barely use his powers all on his own."  
  
Starfire: " So....why are you two...how do you know eachother?"  
  
Clive: " Well, I've known Black all my life. Let's just go with that for now, since the full version of the story takes a deal of time."  
  
Starfire: " I see. So, he can talk to you?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah. I didn't think anyone else could hear him. Apparently, I'm right."  
  
Starfire: " What does your sister thing?  
  
Clive: " I don't know. I told Black to keep it quiet around the house. I'd rather not have Sherri know about him and my powers."  
  
Starfire: " Does she know about Slade?"  
  
Clive: " She's talked with him actually. Of course, she thinks he was just an employer that I was temporarily assisting."  
  
Starfire: " So you do not want her to know about everything then."  
  
Clive: " Nope. She'd probably freak out and give me a heck of a yelling at."  
  
Starfire giggled a bit, realizing that it would probably be true.  
  
Clive: " I'm actually pretty happy that I'm not working for him anymore...but money is going to be tight. So that just makes me worry."  
  
Starfire: " Is there anything we can do?"  
  
Clive: " You? Or the Titans?"  
  
Starfire: " Either, I suppose."  
  
Clive: " Not really. I guess I'll just end up moving us to a 1 bedroom place and sleep on the couch. Well, it's getting late. Why don't you sleep in my room tonight. I'll camp out here in the living room. My cats can take care of me."  
  
Starfire: " You have very pretty cats. I saw them earlier."  
  
Clive: " Ah. Well, Tabitha's the darker one, and Lobo is the orange one. They'll keep me company out there."  
  
Starfire: " But this is your home. You should sleep in your bed."  
  
Clive: " Yeah, but what kind of gentlemen makes a lady sleep on the couch. Come on, it's either this, or I'm gonna sleep on the table."  
  
Starfire: " Then I shall take your room. In the morning, I should probably contact my friends."  
  
Clive: " That's fine. I'll get you back there tomorrow if you're feeling well enough."  
  
She got up and started heading for Clive's room. Clive got up and walked her there, then unlocked the door from the outside.   
  
Clive: " I keep my room locked. I have stuff in there I like a lot."  
  
He opened the door and revealed a small room with a bed seated on the ground with no underside. A small dresser, a few posters of bands, and a guitar. He turned to leave her to her privacy.  
  
Clive: " See you in the morning Starfire. Sleep well."  
  
Starfire: " Thank you. And you should sleep well too."  
  
Clive: " I'll keep that in mind."  
  
So, the pair split off and Clive crashed on the couch. Lobo and Tabitha ran to him and jumped up on the couch with him, sleeping on his chest and stomach. Clive took a blanket off the back of the couch to cover up and was fast asleep. As for Starfire, she was comfortable in his bed, but she still felt a bit out of place. This wasn't her home, and she wasn't sure what all was going on, but she knew she was safe. She was very sure of that. She cast away her doubts, and was able to get to sleep after a while.  
  
The next morning, Sherri was the first person up, followed by Starfire by a mere half an hour. Starfire wandered out to the living room in a somewhat groggy state. She hadn't slept that well, nor that long. Mainly just because she felt a bit uncomfortable. She and Sherri sat on the ground and watched some Television while Clive slept. Starfire kept looking back to see if he was awake, not sure if the sound from the television would wake him. Clive just laid there with his mouth wide open and some drool rolling down the side of his mouth, in blissful slumber.  
  
Starfire: " Are you sure we will not wake him?"  
  
Sherri: " More than sure. Go ahead, give him a good shake. He won't wake up."  
  
Starfire: " I just do not want to be rude and wake him."  
  
Sherri: " Don't worry about it. You won't wake him. Just give him a good shove. He'll sleep like a baby through anything."  
  
Starfire: " If you say so."  
  
Feeling a bit adventurous, Starfire dared to give him a light rock. Clive didn't react at all to her. She tried again, seeing no result. She then gave him a much stronger shake, moving the couch slightly. The cat's woke up and jumped off the couch, decided that they didn't want to stick around just incase it got worse. Still yet, Clive slept soundly. Starfire grinned happily, as she wanted to see what else he could sleep through, and almost made a game of it. She then grabbed a hold of him and shook him violently, but with a touch of care to make sure she didn't really hurt him. Clive stirred for a moment, bringing up his arm to rub his nose, then rolled over, turning his back to her while making some kind of sleep like murmer.  
  
Other than, still nothing.  
  
Starfire: " It is wonderous how your brother can sleep like that. How does one go about waking him?"  
  
Sherri: " Well, there are 3 ways. The easiest is to let him sleep. He'll wake up eventually. But that won't be till the late afternoon. The second way is to play some of his favorite music. That'll usually get him up and going. And lastly...well, I'll just show you."  
  
Sherri went scampering into the kitchen, being closely followed by Starfire. Sherri started frying eggs and bacon, and finished quickly with Starfire's help. She loaded up the plates with eggs and the sausage, then buttered some breat and set everything on the table. She then took a piece of bacon and walked over to Clive. Sherri handed it to Starfire.  
  
Sherri: " Wave it under his nose."  
  
Starfire: " I am to do what?"  
  
Sherri: " Wave it under his nose so he can smell it."  
  
Starfire: " What shall that do? "  
  
Sherri: " It'll wake him. It's breakfast time anyways, and he'd get mad if we didn't wake him for breakfast."  
  
Starfire: " I see. Is this some kind of Earthly waking ritual or custom I should know about?"  
  
Sherri: " Not really. Just give it a go. He won't be mad."  
  
Starfire: " Are you certain?"  
  
Sherri: " Don't worry...there's food waiting for him. He'll say, ' Hey...food is a good reason for anything!'"  
  
Starfire: " Then I shall try and wake him."  
  
Starfire took the piece of bacon and waved it under Clives nose so he could smell it. A strange smile crossed over his face. She continued to wave it, until his hand reached up and grabbed hers, guiding the piece of bacon into his mouth. She let go and pulled her hand away, afraid he might bite her too, and watched in a strange amazement. After the bacon disappeared in his mouth, he swallowed it and sat up, opening his eyes. He smiled and got up, standing a little taller than Starfire.  
  
Clive: " Good morning ladies. How are you?"  
  
Starfire was amazed that he woke up so easily and acted as if he had never gone to bed. He seemed to have an amazing amount of energy for someone who had just woken up.  
  
Starfire: " I'm fine. We were doing the morning waking ritual using the bacon to wake you."  
  
Clive: " Huh?"  
  
Sherri: " Means you were asleep and we decided to wake you for breakfast!"  
  
Clive: " Really? Well thanks ladies."  
  
Starfire: " You are not mad that we disturbed your slumber?"  
  
Clive: " Mad? Hey...food is a good reason for anything!"  
  
Sherri: " See?"  
  
Starfire giggled as Clive looked around not sure what to make of their sudden laughter. He figured it was some joke he wasn't let in on. The three walked across the small room and into the kitchen, sitting at the table. The three of them began eating, and like the previous night, Clive began his feeding frenzy of sorts. Starfire was feeling much better and hadn't gone a long time without food, so she ate more normally, much like she would with the other Titans. Clive finished off his plate and had half the second one finished by the time the two girls were finished themselves.   
  
Starfire still watched in amazement at his eating abilities. Finally, after a third plate, he pushed it forwards and was finished. He smiled.  
  
Clive: " Great breakfast ladies. Lovely way to wake up."  
  
Sherri: " Yeah yeah. It could be dog food and you'd still eat it."  
  
Clive: " You gotta point there. But don't try it. Now then, let's get this mess cleaned up!"  
  
The 3 of them cleaned up the table and washed the dishes all together. Afterwards, they spent about a half an hour watching television. Afterwards, Clive got up.  
  
Clive: " Well, I need a shower. I'll be back shortly."  
  
Starfire: " I should bathe as well. I have not since the day before yesterday."  
  
Sherri: " Oh, your clothes are ready. Why don't you go before my brother. That way, you'll get more hot water."  
  
Starfire: " Is that alright?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah, sure, go ahead."  
  
So, Starfire went to the bathroom and was the first to shower up. In the meantime, Clive and Sherri enjoyed some small talk.  
  
Sherri: " She's really nice. Hard to believe she'd associate with someone like you."  
  
Clive: " Yes, she is very nice. And what do you mean, someone like me?"  
  
Sherri: " You know, tall dark, and dopey like."  
  
Clive: " Oh stuff it."  
  
Sherri: " But really though, you both act like you know eachother. Any particular reason?"  
  
She gave him a wink and nudge, followed by a very cheesy grin. Clive shook his head with a laugh.  
  
Clive: " No, I don't know her. I mean, I met her once at a party and we had a good time. Never saw her again till yesterday."  
  
Sherri: " Oh really?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah, really. What's it to ya?"  
  
Sherri: " I think you've got a crush on her..."  
  
Clive turned a slight shade of red as she seemed to his a soft spot on him. He cleared his throat and took a moment to get back the normal color in his face.  
  
Clive: " Psh...whatever..."  
  
Sherri: " Don't you whatever me. I know these things, it's my womens intuition!"  
  
Clive: " Yeah? Well maybe you ought to go get it fixed."  
  
Sherri: " Oh yeah?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah!"  
  
Sherri: " Liar. I know when you're lying."  
  
Clive: " I'm not lying."  
  
Sherri: " Yes you are. There's always a way to tell if you're lying. If it's important like having a crush on someone, then you turn red, just like that."  
  
Clive: " I think you're reading into this too much."  
  
Sherri: " Says you."  
  
Clive: " That's right. Says me, the Pinnicle of Human Evolution."  
  
Sherri: " Oh, don't start on that. Anyways, I think she'd be good for you. Probably keep you in line."  
  
Clive: " Don't go holding your breath."  
  
Sherri: " Whatever..."  
  
Starfire walked back out, dressed in her normal purple clothing. Her hair was still soaking wet though, but she had a smile on her face.  
  
Starfire: " I am finished."  
  
Clive: " Alrighty. Well, you ladies have fun. I'm gonna go next."  
  
Clive hopped off the couch and jumped into the shower. Starfire and Sherri began talking a little bit as well.  
  
Sherri: " So...how do you know my brother?"  
  
Starfire: " Oh...I do not know him really."  
  
Sherri: " Is that so?"  
  
Starfire: " Why do you ask?"  
  
Sherri: " No reason. I just thought it was strange that you two seemed to know each other, yet you've both never met."  
  
Starfire started to sweat a bit. She was not good at telling lies. Infact, she knew she wasn't supposed to. But she also knew that it would be best if Sherri didn't know about Clive's other job and all that. Starfire started to shake, trying to come up with something.  
  
Starfire: " We...we uhhh....we met...once in a...ummm...a ummm..."  
  
Sherri: " A where?"  
  
Starfire: " .....?"  
  
Starfire turned her head into the direction of the hallway. From inside the bathroom, the pair could hear Clive singing.  
  
Starfire: " What is that?"  
  
Sherri: " Oh...Clive's singing. He always sings in the shower."  
  
Starfire: " I see. I was always told that was some kind of joke. It is always on the cartoons."  
  
Sherri: " Well, my brother's a virtual cartoon. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether he's real or not."  
  
Starfire: " You're brother is really so...strange?"  
  
Sherri: " Well...yes and no. I mean, he acts goofy and pretty wacky, but that's just him being playful. He can be really serious and mature as well...but he just hides it. I guess it helps him make friends."  
  
Starfire: " Oh, I see."  
  
The singing stopped, and Clive came back out, dressed up in a pair of shorts and a hawaiian shirt. He smiled to both the girls on the couch.  
  
Clive: " Well ladies, am I lookin' as good as I feel?"  
  
Sherri: " If you are, you should probably get some more sleep then."  
  
Clive: " Cruisin' for a bruisin' on the highway of pain. You're breaking the speed limit and officer Clive's gonna pull you over..."  
  
Sherri shook her head, sighing at his horrible and corny joke. Starfire was somewhat bewildered and confused at the statement, not sure what was meant by it.  
  
Starfire: " How does she drive when she's not in a car? And I did not know you were a police officer."  
  
Sherri: " Oh no Starfire. He's just being himself. It's a figure of speech. One of his mindless and pointless insults that are always pretty dumb."  
  
Starfire looked between the two and sighed, understanding.  
  
Starfire: " You are much like Beastboy with your interesting quotes and funny sayings."  
  
Clive: " Yeah, that Beastboy's a riot."  
  
Starfire looked around and saw a clock. It was fastly approaching noon and she started to worry.  
  
Starfire: " Excuse me, but I must be going. My friends are probably worried."  
  
Sherri: " Oh...do you have to?"  
  
Starfire: " I must."  
  
She started to head out the door when Clive stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Clive: " Hey, I got a much faster way to travel."  
  
Starfire: " You do?"  
  
Sherri: " Oh, are you gonna take her on your bike?"  
  
Clive: " Uhhh, sure."  
  
Clive reached over and grabbed his helmet off the table. He then grabbed his goggles as well.  
  
Starfire: " I'm pretty sure..."  
  
Clive interrupted quickly, pulling Starfire out the door. She poked her head in to hear Sherri.  
  
Clive: " Well, we're heading out Sis. See you in a little while."  
  
Sherri: " Alright. Bye Starfire! It was nice meeting you. Maybe we could hang out some time."  
  
Starfire: " Indeed. That would be very much fun."  
  
Clive shut the door and led Starfire to an elevator. It was then that Starfire realized she was in an apartment complex.   
  
Starfire: " I'm pretty sure that my ability to fly will be faster than your motorcycle..."  
  
Clive: " Yeah, it probably is...but that's not the fastest way."  
  
Starfire: " I also meant to ask...but why do only you and your sister live together?"  
  
Clive: " Oh...well...when I was young, our father left us. It was about the time when I was 6 I guess. So it was just me, Sherri, our brother and our mother. Then, a couple years ago, Mom and my older brother died in a car accident and we've been on our own since."  
  
Starfire: " That is awful. I did not mean to stir up such bad emotions! I apologize."  
  
Clive: " Don't worry about it. Now then, let's get you back to the tower."  
  
The elevator took them to the ground floor, where they made their way to the small garage that Clive had to house his bike. He got on, putting on both his helmet and goggles. He smiled to her.  
  
Clive: " Get on."  
  
Starfire: " Ok..."  
  
Starfire got on the bike after him. Clive didn't turn it on however. Instead, he closed the garage door. Starfire tensed up and held tighter to Clive. Clive smiled and waved his hand about. The shadow he, Starfire, and his motorcycle cast began to expand and ripple. Finally, a few moments later, they sunk down into it.   
  
Clive: " Don't worry Star...we're just taking a short cut. Hold on tight though, I don't wanna lose ya."  
  
Starfire: " That is not a problem!"  
  
She tightened her grip on him, which caused him to lose his breath. He kept his resilience and soon, they traveled through the dark worlds Starfire had been through numerous times. Then, a light appeared as if at the end of a tunnel, and they appeared right in front of the Titan's Tower. Starfire got off the bike and looked around.  
  
Starfire: " Wonderous. You can do this just like that? Why did you never escape before?"  
  
Clive: " Well...it's hard to just travel around like that. Maybe I'll explain it to your more later? Maybe over lunch or just a coffee?"  
  
Starfire: " Oh...I guess that would....but...I do not know. I would have to ask my friends I think."  
  
Clive: " Oh, that's fine. Hey, just give me a call some time. We'll get together and hang out or something, alrighty?"  
  
Starfire: " Alright then..."  
  
She was a little nervous and flattered at the same time. Something she wasn't quite used to. Clive reached into his coat, pulling out a pen and a piece of paper. He wrote his phone number on it, then handed it to Starfire. She took it and smiled.  
  
Clive: " Well, I'd love to stick around and chat, but I think I'd best get going before..."  
  
Robin: " STOP RIGHT THERE!" 


	9. Friend or Foe, part 2

The Captain: Hey, how'd you guys like that last one? I know it ended almost suddenly, but I think there was a feeling it would end, but not without a sudden call out. Well, I'm gonna continue the call out and maybe a little more in this one. Still, I hope to get Football Friday Fight part 1 editted some time this or next week, that way Terra's return won't seem so sudden. Let's just call what is there a quick fix.  
  
Hey everyone, keep reviewing me! I usually update about twice a week or so! I love reviews!   
  
Legal Tander: If I owned the Titans, I'd release it on DVD by now. Go my loyal minions! Demand you Titan's on DVD in some way shape or form! TO THE PLACE OF THE NETWORK OF CARTOONS WHERE OUR VOICES SHOULD BE HEARD! WE WANT OUR TITANS! AND MAYBE SOME JUSTICE LEAGUE TOO!  
  
Shadow Requiem: Friend or Foe, part 2  
  
Clive turned around very slowly to see the boy wonder himself poised on top of a rock not too far from the tower. He had a birdarang in hand and his staff in the other, backed up by the other 5 Titans. Clive smiled and waved.  
  
Clive: " Well what's up cats? Fancy meeting you here..."  
  
Robin: " Let Starfire go!"  
  
Clive: " What?"  
  
Robin: " Do it now, and give yourself up. We do have you surrounded."  
  
Starfire: " Robin, what is going on?"  
  
Starfire stood behind Clive as the rest of the team formed up more in front of him.  
  
Cyborg: " You ok Starfire?"  
  
Starfire: " Yes, I am fine. Clive just brought me home!"  
  
Beastboy: " He brought you home? Where have you been Starfire?"  
  
Starfire: " I was at Clive's home. Then he brought me to our home."  
  
Robin: " What did you do to her?"  
  
Clive: " What? Hey...I didn't do anything! I found her under all this rubble at my workplace, so after seeing that she wasn't seriously wounded or anything, I took her back to my place so she could get some rest. What's the big deal?"  
  
Robin: " The big deal is that you should have taken her to a hospital."  
  
Clive: " Why? For a few cuts, scrapes, and bruises? That's sure worth the time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."  
  
He looked over to Starfire smiling, and then gave her a nod.  
  
Clive: " It's been a blast. See ya later."  
  
He started to cast his powers on his own shadow, making it ripple again, until a he caught sight of a birdarang flying at him. The shadow stopped rippling and instead rose up to catch the projectile, then crushed it in it's black grip.  
  
Clive: " Dude, I want to go home now. I don't have time for this."  
  
Robin: " We've still got some questions for you."  
  
Clive: " Yes, well I don't have any questions for you. Maybe you can ask me some time later. Until then, I'll be taking my leave."  
  
Clive's bike began to glow as Raven's power seemed to possess it. It thrashed around and ended up throwing Clive off of it and onto the ground. Clive got up and growled, seeing his bike floating up in the air.  
  
Clive: " Hey! Put that down! It's mine and I don't want it scratched."  
  
Terra: " Then why don't you just come along peacefully?"  
  
Clive: " Because This is stupid. I just dropped off Starfire! That's all, I swear!"  
  
Raven: " Then if that's all you did, you would just do this peacefully."  
  
Clive: " Don't lecture me. Ask Starfire since you obviously won't take my word for it. Now give back my bike before I decide to take it back."  
  
Robin: " Don't make this harder than it has to be."  
  
Starfire: " Everyone please. Calm down now! Let us go inside and discuss our problems!"  
  
Starfire looked to her team for some kind of backing down. It seemed that Robin wasn't intent on backing down from Clive. She then turned to Clive and looked at him.  
  
Starfire: " Please, just do as they ask. They will not break their word."  
  
Clive: " Starfire..."  
  
Clive sighed and crossed his arms, looking away and snorting.  
  
Clive: " Fine. We'll do this your way."  
  
Robin: " Good. Now put your hands behind your back."  
  
Clive: " Why?"  
  
Robin pulled out a pair of custom handcuffs. Clive shook his head and sighed, placing his hands behind his back. Robin was very rough with attaching the handcuffs, straining Clive's arms close to their limitations.  
  
Clive: " Easy there buddy...don't damage the goods, I need them."  
  
Robin: " Be quiet."  
  
Robin grabbed Clive's handcuffs and pulled him back to where the rest of the team was. Clive looked around and noticed the Titan's seemed very unsure of him being around. Atleast in Beastboy, Cyborg, and Terra's eyes. Raven had gotten to know him a little bit, and he had a friendly relationship of sorts with Starfire. Robin didn't seem to like him at all however...but that was Robins fault.   
  
Robin: " Alright, let's take him inside."  
  
Robin pushed Clive forwards and jerked him around repeaedly, giving Clive something to gripe about.  
  
Clive: " Hey, easy there buddy. I'm not Superman..."  
  
Robin: " Just be quiet."  
  
Clive: " Now, where am I being taken?"  
  
Robin: " Interrogation room."  
  
Clive jingled his handcuffs a bit, then smirked and started to giggle a bit.  
  
Clive: " I'm into that kind of thing."  
  
Robin: " I told you to shut up!"  
  
Starfire leaned over to Raven and whispered to her.  
  
Starfire: " What kind of thing does he mean?"  
  
Raven: " You don't want to know..."  
  
Starfire: " Is it something naughty?"  
  
Raven: " Yes."  
  
Starfire blushed.  
  
Starfire: " Oh."  
  
The 7 of them walked back into the tower as Clive was forced ahead of everyone. They entered within it, and Clive halfway just gawked at the size of the place. The opening area was pretty much just a large waiting room with a hallway that stretched into the main living room. They continued through this and he took the time to drool a bit at the gigantic television, the uber huge speakers, and the amazingly large kitchen. There was plenty of couch space for over 10 people, and there was still extra furniture to boot. Clive was slowing down a bit to really take in the sights, since the last time he was here, it was all dark and hard too see. Robin gave him a hard nudge, bringing him back to the matters at hand. Clive gave a jerk back to Robin, followed by a fairly nasty look, which Robin didn't take too well.  
  
Finally, after a few more minutes of wandering through the tower and passing through several hallways, they opened a large door to a room. Robin led Clive in, and Clive knew immediately where he was. It was a simple room, large and white. There was a single chair in the center of it, and that was all. The chair was not only just bolted down, it infact was built into the flooring so it could not be removed. The lights were very bright and the temperature in there was an unusually warm, making this place a very uncomfortable spot. This must have been their interrogation room. Clive was forced into the seat by Robin, whom which then added a couple more pairs of handcuffs to him, attaching him to the chair now as well.  
  
Clive: " You know, I like this chair...but I don't plan on marrying it. Mind if you just leave what you have on?"  
  
Robin: " Look, you're dangerous, so I'll take all the precautions I need."  
  
Clive: " Heh, yeah, sure. Let's just get this over with.  
  
Robin finished putting on the last handcuff. His arms were being stretched to their limits behind his back, and the cuffs were unforgivingly tight. The bright white lights were then focused right on Clive, which was blinding him.  
  
Clive: " Hey, I don't need a tan, so can you turn the lights down? Hello? Anyone there?"  
  
He could see anything. With the lights the way they were, it hurt to open his eyes. He then heard voices from around him. He could recognize them easily though.  
  
Cyborg: " Ready to get this thing started?"  
  
Robin: " Yes I am."  
  
Cyborg: " Alright then, who are you?"  
  
Clive: " My name is Clive."  
  
Robin: " Just Clive? Or do you have a last name, Clive?"  
  
Clive: " Clive Vulcan."  
  
Cyborg: " That's an odd last name. Why don't you run that through for me Raven."  
  
Raven: " Not a problem."  
  
Clive heard a door open and shut, which was probably Raven leaving. The interrogation continued.  
  
Cyborg: " So what do you do for a living Clive?"  
  
Clive: " I'm a warehouse loader on the docks. I work 12 to 14 hours a day moving crates around. I used to have a job as a short order cook as well, but they let me go because of labor costs, so I picked up more hours at my warehouse job."  
  
Robin: " You're not telling us everything!"  
  
Clive: " What's more to tell? I work on a loading dock."  
  
Robin: " Then tell us about Slade."  
  
Clive: " What's to say? He found out about me and what I can do. How, I'm not sure, and nor do I really care. He offered to help me out in the situation that I was and am currently back in, and considering I didn't have many other options, I took his offer. You know, getting a job is hard these days without a diploma."  
  
A door opened up again and Raven handed Cyborg some paper work. Cyborg and Robin looked over it briefly.  
  
Robin: " So, you live with your sister, Sherri."  
  
Clive: " Don't bring her into this. You WILL regret it if you do."  
  
Cyborg: " What are you gonna do? I mean, you're strapped down to that chair tighter than Fort Knox. Those aren't just standard handcuffs either."  
  
Clive frowned, then rose his foot. The shadow his foot cast began to spread out, until it was as large as Clive was. The 3 titans in the room took a quick and sudden defensive stance. Clive smiled.  
  
Clive: " You see...those lights you have there surround me. Thus rendering shrinking down the size of my shadow. You'd think that would limit my powers...but it doesn't. Aside from my shadow being a virtually independant being, I can make him bigger or smaller upon my choosing. No manner of high powered lights will get rid of it. Now then, continue with the questions."  
  
Robin: " So you live with your sister Sherri?"  
  
Clive: " Yes, and now let's move on away from her."  
  
Cyborg: " You must care a lot for her...wanting to protect her and all. So why don't you tell us about your situation?"  
  
Clive: " Well, the whole thing? Why I joined up with Slade or just my entire life story all in a nutshell?"  
  
Cyborg: " Just the whole situation you're in now. We'll get the rest out of you later..."  
  
Clive: " Whatever. Basically, when I was 16, myself and my sister were left on our own after our mother and older brother passed away in a car accident. Instead of being tossed around from foster home to foster home, I decided that I would just pony up and get a job to support us in an apartment. So, I dropped out of highschool and picked up a couple of jobs. I inherited my brothers motorcycle and some of the families things, but for the most part, we didn't have much else. We sold what we didn't need, aside from some of the heirlooms to make sure we kept up with rent, but I can only afford so much.   
  
We had some problems with the bills and next thing you know, we're about to get an eviction notice. I tried to appeal to my landlords good side, but I was late on the payment and it wasn't going to be enough. That's when Slade showed up. A man dressed in a snazzy suit and wearing a mask showed up, handed the landlord a check for all the money I owed, and that was it. I let him inside and he asked me to be a personal assistant of his on the side. He told me he knew of my powers, and that he could put them to some good use. He said if I helped him, he'd keep me out of the red. So...what more can I guy ask for?"  
  
Robin: " So, he paid you to work for him."  
  
Clive: " So to speak. I didn't get any actual money from him, he just paid my bills and kept me up to date. But since this last fiasco, he said he was done with me and let me go. Now, that creep cancelled all his current checks, and I've been getting all sorts of notices from people that I owe them some form of payment."  
  
Cyborg: " That's pretty sad man. So what now?"  
  
Clive: " I guess I'll just have to sell some things to raise the money, then find a second job and try my hand at that."  
  
Robin: " Something tells me you're lying about something."  
  
Clive: " And something tells me you obviously just don't like me. What do I have to lie about? Is my life story not sad enough? What's your excuse?"  
  
Robin: " That's not my problem. Raven, care to check to see if there's anything we need to know?"  
  
Raven: " I suppose..."  
  
Raven approached Clive and placed a hand on his head. He could feel her powers in use, and thus, she began to scan his mind. She saw many things though. Most of his memories and such as a child and of his family, and even the current day situation. She even saw his recent memory of the last day or so, with him and Starfire. She could feel his feelings and such, which made her a bit nervous knowing. She continued further, reading into what his brother and mother were like, but never noticed his father too much. Finally, she tried to dive into the origin of his powers. But when she tried, a everything went black. Suddenly, Raven began thrashing around a bit, having some kind of psychic backlast of some sorts. She opened her eyes to see that shadow raised up out of the ground, standing in front of Clive. It slowly sunk back to the ground afterwards. Robin and Cyborg were ready for anything at this moment, but Clive shook his head and watched Raven straighten herself out.  
  
Clive: " Sorry about that. Black doesn't like people snooping around too much. Whether it's in my home or in my head."  
  
Raven: " Black?"  
  
Robin: " What was that? And why did you do it? You say you don't want any trouble, so why don't you just stop being so sarcastic?"  
  
Clive: " Easy there chief. I didn't ask or make Black do that."  
  
Cyborg: " Who is Black?"  
  
Clive: " My shadow."  
  
The 3 of them looked to the ground. Clive's shadow waved at them, then ran it's hands through it's hair, tossing it quickly. The shadow of Clive began to mutate a bit, then resembled the creature the Titan's had fought a few days ago.   
  
Clive: " That's Black. He's my shadow."  
  
Raven: " Care to tell us about him?"  
  
Clive: " Well, you should ask him that."  
  
Robin: " Ask him that?"  
  
Clive: " Of course, you wouldn't know how. Hey Black, what all do you want me to tell them?"  
  
Clive stared at the ground and nodded, as if he were listening to his shadow. Everyone stayed quiet and tried to hear something, however, nothing could be heard. Clive looked up.  
  
Clive: " Black say's that he's an ethereal, interdimensional, godlike being from another world. Did I get that right?"  
  
His shadow gave him a thumbs up.  
  
Robin: " Don't toy with us."  
  
Clive: " I'm just the translater. That's what he told me."  
  
Robin: " Ok, I don't believe in any of those, so why should I think that you can just talk to your shadow?"  
  
Clive: " Because...Raven's met him too."  
  
Robin: " What? Raven...is that true?"  
  
Raven pulled her hood over her face. She remembered that monster that talked to her. It was like it knew her, or knew something about her. She didn't like what all it said to her on that night. It made her very uncomfortable.  
  
Raven: " He's right. I did meet it."  
  
Clive: " Yep. Black says he had a nice little chat, but was rudely interrupted by the scrawny blond chick that threw a rock at him."  
  
A faint and angry voice was heard for a moment, and was quickly subdued. Clive had a nice little chuckle, and by the way it shook, Black must have heard it as well.  
  
Robin: " So, then it does have a life of it's own..."  
  
Raven: " Yes."  
  
Robin: " I want to talk to it."  
  
Raven: " You don't want that."  
  
Robin: " Yes I do. We need to find out all we can."  
  
Raven: " It's too dangerous Robin. You don't know what that thing can do."  
  
Cyborg: " She's got a point. I saw the thing myself, and I don't want to see it again."  
  
Robin: " Then we'll bring in Star. She seems to be able to handle him well."  
  
The door opened up and Starfire walked in. She saw Clive all strapped down in the chair with his eyes closed tightly.   
  
Starfire: " You called for me Robin?"  
  
Robin: " Yeah. We'll need you in here just in case."  
  
Starfire: " Ok."  
  
Clive: " Hey Starfire! Good to hear you again!"  
  
Starfire: " Thank you Clive."  
  
Clive had a big wide grin on his face, he then looked towards the ground.  
  
Clive: " Alright Black...they want to talk to ya. So how about we do this. But don't wreck the place please."  
  
Clive still stared at the ground. The shadow was giving all sorts of gestures with it's body.  
  
Clive: " No, I didn't mean that you were some kind of messy animal. I mean that I just want you to talk to them. Don't try anything you clown!"  
  
The shadow gave Clive another gesture using one of it's fingers.   
  
Clive: " Oh, sure, you and what army!"  
  
The other Titans were a little befuddled to see a guy argue with his shadow. It seemed though that Black was capable of hearing everything in the world, but could only be heard by Clive. Finally, Black seemed to settle down.  
  
Clive: " Alright, just don't cause any problems. Now come on, let's do this."  
  
Suddenly, Clives shadow spread out all around him. Black arms and such tore out of the ground and grabbed Clive. A black figure rose up and pulled itself onto Clive's body, overtaking it. Clive was completely black now...but the whole process wasn't finished. His body began to grow, much like what had happened earlier. The handcuffs broke as he grew out of them, and soon, the chair was crushed under his weight. Black fell to one knee as his body finished growing out. Then, his tail sprout out from his back, and his long black pointy dreadlocks grew out and fell all over his body. The rest of the Titan's were in a bit of shock to see this. Even the one's who had seen it happen before. Black's eyes opened and and began squint, making his usually frighteningly blue eyes very small.   
  
Black: " I do not like how this room feels..."  
  
His voice was low and almost raspy. He waved his hand and the glass bulbs shattered everywhere in the room. Black held his hands over the heads of the Female Titans, warding off the glass from them, while the other two were forced to just whether the glass. Either way, everyone was ok. The room was now dark, and except for Starfire's use of her powers to create light, everything else was dark.  
  
Robin: " What...what was that for?"  
  
Black: " I do not like it that bright. Infact, I like it dark like this."  
  
Robin: " So...you must be Black."  
  
Black: " Indeed."  
  
Black swept his gaze over the 4 titans infront of him. He was even taller than before, standing a head and shoulders over Cyborg. Blacks long dreads hung down to the ground and swayed around as he moved his arms in order to stretch.  
  
Black: " Could you make this fast? I cannot maintain my form for extended periods of time."  
  
Robin: " Why?"  
  
Black: " I was wounded many years ago. Since then, I have healed, but to maintain my presence, I am attached to this body."  
  
Cyborg: " So, you kinda live with Clive because you need a body to survive?"  
  
Black: " You are perceptive, but it is not quite like that. I need Clive's body. He has abilities that humans do not normally possess, and it is those which permits me to continue to exist."  
  
Raven: " You feed off his powers?"  
  
Black: " Again, perceptive, but still far from the truth. I am no mere parasite. I live off the excessive kinetic energy his body emits. You may feel it as well, since you have a much different power than the rest of your friends. That energy sustains me and keeps me alive. In return, he shares many of my powers, skills, attributes, and knowledge. I have known Clive since he was a child, and infact, it was the moment I was mortally wounded that he was born. It was his power that I could sense and thus, I binded myself to him."  
  
Raven: " I see. So then, may I ask you...are you..."  
  
Black: " A Shadow Mage? Surely you jest. Those are mere fables made up to scare you and the such. There are no such things as Shadow Mages. Whoever came up with that was a fool."  
  
Raven: " But I was taught..."  
  
Black: " Yes...you are some priestess of Azarath. I know because I recognize your power."  
  
Raven: " You do?"  
  
Robin: " Enough about that. Tell me, who or what are you?"  
  
Black looked down at Robin. Robin showed no fear for Black, which is something that Black admired. However, Black's eyes looked down at Robin with a flare of anger in them.  
  
Black: " Boy...speak to me like that again and it will be the last thing you say."  
  
His voice had become angry and oppressive. Black's dreadlocks began to flow around him a bit, as if he was a snake coiling up and getting ready to strike. The Titans became very tense again. Black shook his head afterwards.  
  
Black: " My name would be impossible for you to say."  
  
Robin: " Try me."  
  
Black: " No, I won't. You're human, and therefore, you are incapable of saying my name properly. In my tongue, there are also pitches and tones one must follow, and in my name, they become too high and too low for a human to say."  
  
Starfire: " How about a Tameranian?"  
  
Black turned and looked at the young girl emitting the light in the room. Black opened his mouth and started to speak. To Robin, Raven, and Starfire, there was nothing coming out. On a couple of occasions a few sounds and syllabols were able to be made out...but for the most part there was nothing to be heard. To Cyborg, he couldn't quite hear it, but he could detect the sounds coming from Black.   
  
Robin: " So, that was your name?"  
  
Black: " Correct. The only sounds you actually hear spell out the word black in your language...so that is what I call myself in your tongue."  
  
Robin: " So, what are you?"  
  
Black: " A powerful entity from another dimension. How does that work for you?"  
  
Robin: " Is that not the full truth?"  
  
Black: " It's truth enough."  
  
Cyborg: " Alright then...I don't have any more questions."  
  
Black: " I grow tired. If there are no more questions, I will be taking my leave."  
  
Robin: " Wait..."  
  
Black: " What?"  
  
Robin: " Where is Slade now?"  
  
Black: " Why do you think I would know?"  
  
Robin: " A hunch."  
  
Black: " Maybe you aren't a waste of person. I do know where he is right now."  
  
Robin: " Right now?"  
  
Black: " A simple skill for me. I can find anyone's shadow anywhere they may be. I can tell anything about someone by their shadow. Think if it like a finger print."  
  
Robin: " You mean that..."  
  
Black looked down at Robin's shadow and smiled. He then leaned over and whispered something to Robin.  
  
Black: " Tim Drake...he lies below the city."  
  
Robin's eyes went wide. He then turned around and stormed out of the interrogation room. The other Titan's turned to watch him leave, then turned back to Black.  
  
Black: " I only told him what he didn't want to know."  
  
Black sighed, then knelt down.  
  
Black: " My time is short. I must take my leave."  
  
He looked right at Raven and smiled.  
  
Black: " I will see you again soon."  
  
Black smiled and faded away, sinking down into the ground until only Clive was left, laying on the floor. Clive slowly got up and looked around, seeing that the room he was in had grown dark, there was shattered lightbulbs all over the place, and the room was Robinless.  
  
Clive: " What happened to Robin? Black didn't eat Robin did he?"  
  
Starfire: " No, Robin is fine. He left the room."  
  
Clive: " Damn. Is everyone alright?"  
  
Cyborg: " Yeah, we're fine."  
  
Clive: "Alright then. Well, did it go well? Doesn't look like it. Must have been too bright."  
  
Starfire: " Indeed. He didn't like the blinding lights."  
  
Clive: " He's just begging for some attention."  
  
Clive brushed himself off and stretched out.  
  
Clive: " So, is that all guys? Cause I wouldn't mind going and getting a pizza or something right about now."  
  
Cyborg: " I guess so. Looks like you can go."  
  
The 4 of them cleared out and headed back for the living room. There, Terra and Beastboy were playing the gamestation. Beastboy got beaten in the race and turned around while Terra celebrated.  
  
Beastboy: " Hey, how about some food guys? I'm starving! We searched all day and night yesterday and haven't eaten yet. How about it?"  
  
Terra: " I'm all for it too! Come on, let's go get something!"  
  
Cyborg: " Well, what about it Titans?"  
  
Clive continued down the hallway and to the door. Starfire accompanied him since it seemed no one else would. Raven ran off to her room, probably to study or meditate. Black seemed to bother her greatly.  
  
Starfire: " You are leaving?"  
  
Clive: " Eh, yeah. I don't think they want me around here. I guess I don't blame them. I did kinda attack you guys a while ago."  
  
Starfire: " But you are not working for Slade anymore, right?"  
  
Clive: " Well yeah. I'm just back to good old me now."  
  
Starfire: " Then come, let us ask and see if you may come!"  
  
Clive: " Well...I don't know..."  
  
Starfire gave him a smile, then grabbed him and drug him back to the living room.  
  
Starfire: " I would like to request that we go out to the place of the pizza."  
  
Cyborg: " Hey yeah. Some pizza would be great right now!"  
  
Beastboy: " Alright. Someone wanna go tell Raven and Robin?"  
  
Cyborg: " Already on it."  
  
Cyborg patched into his comm-link in his arm, contacting both Raven and Robin. The pair answered their communicators.  
  
Raven: " What?"  
  
Robin: " Yes?"  
  
Cyborg: " Hey, we're going out to get some Pizza. Wanna come?"  
  
Raven: " No."  
  
Robin: " I'm busy."  
  
With that, the pair turned off their communicators.   
  
Cyborg: " Well, Pizza it is."  
  
Starfire: " Then may we bring Clive?"  
  
The room fell silent. Everyone looked quite nervous and unsure. Clive smiled and nodded.  
  
Clive: " Well, I understand. Catch you cats on the flip side I guess."  
  
Clive began to leave again, but Starfire still held onto his arm.  
  
Starfire: " I promise he won't cause trouble."  
  
Beastboy: " Well...I guess I don't mind."  
  
Cyborg: " Me neither. Especially as long as he doesn't cause trouble. How about it Terra?"  
  
Terra: " Sure, it's cool with me."  
  
Starfire: " Glorious! Then we shall go!" 


	10. Friend or Foe, part 3

The Captain: Hey, how'd you guys like that last one? I know it ended almost suddenly, but I think there was a feeling it would end, but not without a sudden call out. Well, I'm gonna continue the call out and maybe a little more in this one. Still, I hope to get Football Friday Fight part 1 editted some time this or next week, that way Terra's return won't seem so sudden. Let's just call what is there a quick fix.  
  
Hey everyone, keep reviewing me! I usually update about twice a week or so! I love reviews! Thank you Lily for the lovely review. To answer your questions, Robin's real name in this fic is Tim Drake, the second (or third? Maybe fourth?) Robin. I thought about Dick Grayson whom which becomes Nightwing in the future (as was shown in the episdoe 'How long is Forever') but then again, by the technology and such showed in the show, it's too current for it to be Dick Grayson (cars don't look like the 70's blocky cars, for example). Thus, this is how my story will work. Black just said that to Robin to prove his skills on being able to identify and learn of people by their shadows and such.   
  
Yeah, Robin's been a bit ooc. I'm gonna try to clear that up, but he's mainly getting so mad because he can't really crack this guy or Slade's real plans yet.   
  
Legal Tander: Ok, so I don't own the Titans, but apparently the WB and Cartoon Network do. So WB and CN, please don't sue me. And while your at it, please hurry up and get the Titans on DVD soon (it is going to happen! Isn't it great?)!  
  
Shadow Requiem: Friend or Foe, part 3  
  
The team and Clive gathered up, ready to head on out. They all piled into the T car with Cyborg driving. Finally, they left the garage and were about to travel through the underground bridge that connected the tower to the mainland. As they started driving, Terra's stomach growled loudly, followed shortly by Beastboy's.  
  
Terra: " You've got to hurry Cyborg...I don't think I can last too much longer!"  
  
Cyborg: " Yeah yeah. You know, they do call it a speed limit. Either way, the pizza place is on the other side of town."  
  
Terra: " I know...but man, I'm just starved!"  
  
Beastboy: " I'm with her. I mean, come on, can't you do anything?"  
  
Cyborg: " Oh sure, and risk the lives of others just so I can take a couple of people to the Pizza place. Do I look like a taxi cab driver to you?"  
  
Beastboy: " Now that you bring it up..."  
  
Starfire: " Friends! Let us think of the joy which we will have by comsuming the pizza and forget our differences for now!"  
  
The 4 were arguing lightly while Clive observed. He smiled and started to laugh.  
  
Clive: " Alright...y'all want to get there fast, but Cyborg's right, we can't just break the speed limit. So stop the car. I'm gonna take us there faster than this car will get us there."  
  
Cyborg: " Oh hows that genius?"  
  
Clive: " Simple! Just hold still and don't freak out. We're gonna do a little teleporting maneuver!"  
  
Starfire: " You will do that again?"  
  
Clive: " Sure, why not."  
  
The car pulled to a stop and Clive looked down at the ground, focusing. A shadow opened up from underneath the car, stretching widely until it was large enough to engulf it. The car began to slowly sink. Cyborg tensed up greatly.  
  
Cyborg: " Nothin' better happen to this car!"  
  
Clive: " Don't worry...I do this with my bike enough. I love my bike like you love your car."  
  
A drop of sweat fell off Clive's head as his concentration grew more noticable. Finally, the car was lost in a sea of darkness. The 4 Titan's looked out the windows to see what they could, but nothing was there.  
  
Cyborg: " Man! Where are we?"  
  
Clive: " Hang...on..."  
  
Beastboy: " Dude...I'm getting really freaked out here!"  
  
Clive: " Al...most...found it...."  
  
Finally, a bright white like opened up out of nowhere, and the 5 young individuals headed right for it. All of a sudden, they were parked right in front of the pizza shop. They all carefully opened the doors and stepped out slowly. Clive got about halfway out, still sitting down. He was out of breath and covered in sweat.  
  
Beastboy: " Dude...are you alright?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah...I'm alright..."  
  
Starfire: " Clive, what is wrong?"  
  
Clive: " Oh nothing. Just took a little more out of me than I thought. Just give me a moment to catch my breath here..."  
  
After a few more minutes, Clive stood up. They looked at him oddly, and he gave them a smile and thumbs up to let them know that he was alright. They exchanged nods and went inside, sitting down on the roof at a large table.  
  
Cyborg: " Alright man, what was that back there?"  
  
Clive: " Well...do you believe in the existance of different worlds and dimensions?"  
  
Cyborg: " I've heard theories."  
  
Clive: " Well...there you go. There's a realm of sorts that mirrors this. No real name for it, so let's call it the Shadow Realm for conversations sake. Well, Black has powers that pertain to that world, and so, he can travel through it at will. Since I share his powers, I can as well. Though I have a mastery over those powers like he does, I'm not from there, and so, moving through there and taking things through there is much harder for me to do."  
  
Cyborg: " So, you can't just do your little teleport, right?"  
  
Clive: " Exactly. I need to prepare it. I can't just disappear like that. Now, if it were just me, it wouldn't have taken a quarter of that much time. However, there were 5 people and a car to take."  
  
Terra: " So, the more stuff you take, the harder it is?"  
  
Clive: " Right. See, just me is easy. Doesn't take much to do, only a few moments to prepare. I have to open the portal inside, then find an exiting portal out. Then, once inside, I guide us through to the exiting portal. It's a lot more work than it sounds."  
  
Beastboy: " Sounds like it. But we were all in the car...so wouldn't that just make it so that it was one big package?"  
  
Clive: " Not really. See...it's not the size alone...but everything has to go individually. A portal for myself, Starfire, Cyborg, the car, Terra, and yourself. 6 different portals to go to one place. It's not a big deal, but it's some work...particularly keep us all together like that. I decided to keep us all together, since I didn't want you guys to freak out in there. Too much disruption and I could technically lose control and the portals would shut."  
  
Starfire: " We could have been lost in there forever?"  
  
Clive: " No...I'd just have to take a moment and catch my breath, then reguide us back on track, then reopen the exiting portal. Again, it's no big deal, but a lot of things at once and trying to keep them together is tough."  
  
Terra: " You sure you'll be fine?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah, I just need a drink or whatnot."  
  
A waitress came by whom which was familiar with the Titans.  
  
Waitress: " Hi guys, how are ya?"  
  
Cyborg: " We're just peachy now. But we're starving. Been searching the city all day and night for Star over there."  
  
Waitress: " Oh my. Well, sounds very adventurous. So what can I get for you to drink?"  
  
Cyborg: " Fruit Punch."  
  
Terra: " Rootbeer."  
  
Beastboy: " Sprite."  
  
Starfire: " A Coke please."  
  
Clive: " Lemonade."  
  
The waitress wrote it all down, then took off.  
  
Cyborg: " Alright, so what're we gonna get?"  
  
Beastboy: " Well no meat."  
  
Cyborg: " What? We've already discussed this. out of us 6 Titans, you're the only one that doesn't like meat. Majority rules, you can pick it off."  
  
Beastboy: " Dude, that's so unfair."  
  
Clive: " Why not get like, 2 or 3 pizzas?"  
  
Cyborg: " 2 or 3?"  
  
Clive: " Come on...you can't be serious....maybe the girls together could take a single pizza...but we're guys! When I hang out with my buddies and we get pizza, it's like 3 pizza's for the 6 of us! I mean, how does 1 pizza feed 5 or 6 people?"  
  
Terra: " What do you mean ' maybe the girls'?"  
  
Clive: " Well, you ladies are pretty skinny. In shape, but skinny. Now, I've seen Star eat when she was hungry, and she can put away a couple of plates. But still, I can't see the 3 of you together polishing off a full pizza."  
  
Terra: " You wanna make something of it?"  
  
Clive: " I think I do!"  
  
Terra: " WAITRESS!"  
  
The waitress came back in a hurry, half expecting to get yelled at.  
  
Terra: " Wanna put your money where your mouth is?"  
  
Clive: " Go ask my sister and she'll tell you that's probably where it'd belong..."  
  
Terra: " Then I challenge you. I bet I could eat more Pizza than you could."  
  
Clive: " You? I'm the King! You're having pipe dreams girl. But tell you what...I'll oblige ya. Just don't cry when you have a full stomach and I'm still going."  
  
Waitress: " Is there something I can help you two with?"  
  
Terra: " We need 2 pizza buffet orders."  
  
Waitress: " Alright, would you like the salad bar with that as well?"  
  
Clive: " No need for appitizers miss. We'll just take the buffet."  
  
Waitress: " Not a problem. Can I get anything for the rest of you?"  
  
Cyborg: " Just get us an extra large, half green onions, peppers, mushrooms, and eggplant, and half double pepperoni. How's that?"  
  
Starfire: " It sounds wonderful."  
  
Beastboy: " Hey sure, whatever. But that's nothing. Terra and Clive are really gonna go at it. It's gonna be great!"  
  
The waitress brought out their drinks and a plate for each of them. Terra and Clive got up and walked over to the buffet slowly, eyeing each other, like a pair of gunslingers.  
  
Beastboy: " Anyone care to take bets?"  
  
Cyborg: " Terra, hands down. He might be bigger than her, but that girl can put away a frigerator."  
  
Starfire: " I do not know. Clive too can do the woofing down of food as well."  
  
Immediately, after those statements were made, Clive and Terra began filling up thier plates. They raced back to the table and began scarfing down. Though Terra was eating single slices of pizza quickly, Clive wasn't far behind her in speed and eating two slices stacked on top of each other. The pair inhaled their food to everyone elses standards, and soon, Clive got up, with a finished plate and two half slices of pizzas in his mouth. He loaded up his plate full of more pizza, and just as he was turning to head back to the table, Terra was coming to fill her plate.   
  
Again, Clive just shoveled more pizza into his mouth. People began to gather just too see how many slices he could cram into his mouth. This time, it was three. He was foaming around the mouth while chewing, using his hands to keep the slices from falling out. Terra sat down and continued to chow down, just shoving entire slices into her mouth and chewing them up. Clive had a problem trying to swallow his 3 slices, so he crunched the slices hanging out of his mouth up and forced them in. He then grabbed his drink as it was brought and poured it on the slices, making them mushy so he could fit them down better.  
  
Terra was a little shocked to see this. First off because he was so competitive, and secondly because she's never seen anyone eat like that. Clive was getting up while she still had half her plate to go. Clive brought back an entire pizza this time, 8 slices stacked up on his plate. A crowd was gathered to see if he could do it. Clive stuffed 3 more slices in his mouth, with a sip of lemonade, chewed, swallowed, and repeated as fast as he could. Terra finished her plate, then came back with as much as last time. His plan was to eat all he could as fast as he could. She was going to space herself, which was probably smarter...but she still could not match the bottomless and otherwise iron clad stomach of Clive. Finally, after another 10 minutes of eating, Terra gave in. With his victory proclaimed, Clive fell over in his chair and frothed at the mouth, holding his now widely expanded stomach.  
  
Clive: " Uhhh....too...much..."  
  
Drool ran down Clive's cheek, and so, the other Titan's decided to check on him. Cyborg ran a quick diagnosis on him.  
  
Cyborg: " He's fine...just stuffed himself silly."  
  
Beastboy: " Man, that was nuts! I didn't think someone could do that!"  
  
Starfire: " You've eaten 32 of the pizza slices. It is truely valorous!"  
  
Clive: " Tha...nks...uhhh...."  
  
Finally, the pizzas the others ordered came. The 3 Titan's took a few slices and were eating them while talking about anything and everything. Clive finally pulled himself back into his seat and wiped the drool and everything else off his face. Terra sat next to him, slouched greatly in order to deal with so much food. They were both basically in the same boat. It was a very nice time, especially for Clive. The 5 laughed and told jokes, and eventually, the others warmed up to Clive.  
  
Cyborg: " You know Clive, once you get past the fact that you beat us down pretty bad and knocked some of us senseless...you're alright."  
  
Clive: " Well thanks man. Sorry about throwing you out of the tower and into the bay."  
  
Cyborg: " It's alright...but that's a mean arm you've got. Ever thought about playing baseball?"  
  
Clive: " Not really. I play Bass though! Heh heh!"  
  
The others had a good laugh. It wasn't a really funny joke, but it was nice to be able to relax finally. All the Titan's had been on end for the last few days, with getting beaten and losing a member for a short while.  
  
Beastboy: " So then what are you gonna do now?"  
  
Clive: " What do you mean?"  
  
Beastboy: " Well, you don't work for Slade anymore, so what are you going to do now?"  
  
Clive: " I dunno. Probably just work some extra hours. I'm gonna need the cash."  
  
Cyborg: " For that rent and such you can't pay?"  
  
Clive: " Something like that."  
  
Starfire: " Could he not become a member of our team?"  
  
Cyborg: " Well...I really don't see a problem. Since you're one of the good guys now, I think it'd be great. We could use your kind of power."  
  
Terra: " Yeah, that would be great! Someone else to move in. Plus, I want a rematch some time. But we'll do it hardcore style with Ice Cream!"  
  
Clive: " Well...I'm honored and all with the offer, so...."  
  
His answer was cut short by a rocket flying out of the sky crashing into their table. The 5 teens were thrown from thier position and landed on nearby tables. Clive was the first up, and looked to the sky to see Gizmo Boy flying around. Then, Mammoth jumped up onto their story of the Pizza floor carrying Jinx with him. The 3 Hive associates formed up by the ledge with grins across their faces.  
  
Gizmo: " What's up pit sniffers?"  
  
Mammoth: " Nice to see you brought your friends girly."  
  
Jinx: " Ready for some fun?"  
  
The other titans were up almost instantly. Cyborg formed his cannon.  
  
Cyborg: " TEEN TITANS...G.."  
  
Clive: " WAIT!"  
  
Clive interrupted Cyborg, stepping in front of the titans.   
  
Clive: " Hey, were you the guys that hurt Starfire?"  
  
Mammoth: " What's it to ya?"  
  
Clive: " I just want to get my facts straight."  
  
Gizmo: " Well let me straighten them up for you. You're a loser, and so are your friends."  
  
Clive: " I see."  
  
Clive reached down into his shadow. He pulled his shadow straight off the ground, and it formed into his bass guitar. Clive smiled, hoisting it over his shoulder.  
  
Clive: " Who wants some? Huh? Who wants to go first? Come on, me verse you guys. Care to step to the plate?"  
  
Mammoth: " Who're you?"  
  
Clive: " Just some guy who's gonna inprint my foot on your skull. And you?"  
  
Mammoth: " I'm Mammoth."  
  
Jinx: " Jinx."  
  
Gizmo: " Gizmo, and don't you forget it!"  
  
Clive: " Well, I'm Clive. Now then Titans, leave this to me. I've been looking for some trash to take out."  
  
Clive ended his statement in a full out run. He covered the distance between himself the the 3 Hive members quickly, pulling back his guitar. Mammoth didn't throw up a block, underestimating Clive's skills greatly. Clive swung his guitar and smashed it right against Mammoths chest, knocking him right off the building and imprinting him into the next. The other 2 Hive members watched in great amazement, then decided to take him seriously. Gizmo flew through the air, firing his energy machine cannon at Clive. Clive pulled up his guitar to block the small shots, then turned his attention to Jinx who was coming at him with a flying kick. Clive rose his hand and her shadow reached out and pulled her to the ground, holding her down. Afterwards, Clive jumped into the air as Gizmo came for another pass, then swung down on one of Gizmo's wings, smashing it to pieces and grounding him.   
  
Gizmo activated another of his gadgets, bringing out his large spiderlegs. He made a quick advance, and was followed by Mammoth. Clive threw his guitar at Gizmo, who shot it away, sending it flying off in the distance. Mammoth came in and made a swing at Clive. Clive released his hold on Jinx and threw up his hands, causing his shadow to reappear and block the swing by mammoth. Clive charged back, pushing Mammoth into Gizmo. Afterwards, Clive pulled back his fist, and it started to crackle with all sorts of energy. He slugged it right into Mammoth's gut, sending him flying backwards, knocking Gizmo out of the way and reimprinting him into the other building. Jinx got up and waved her hands, causing the floor the start to crumble. The other titans began getting people out of the way, clearing the floor, but they wouldn't have enough time to get the occupants below it. Clive spread his shadow across the ground, then caused numerous large hands to raise up below the flooring and hold it all up so the people beneath could get out.   
  
The titans hurried up, as Clive was giving most his focus to his powers and holding up the floor. Jinx took this moment to beat on him, kicking him, punching him, and all sorts, since he didn't want to let the floor fall. Finally, he heard Cyborg call out.  
  
Cyborg: " It's empty!"  
  
Clive: " Ugh...good."  
  
Clive let the floor go, landing on one of the black shadowy hands. Meanwhile, Jinx fell through the floow, and since Clive retracted all but one of the hands, she had nothing but the cold hard ground to land on. Finally, after the dust settled, Gizmo was the only one left of the 3 standing. Clive smirked as he brought out his guitar again. He ran at Gizmo, avoiding the shots fired at him from Gizmo's cannon. Clive swung the guitar and destroyed each of the legs, knocking Gizmo down to the ground. Afterwards, Clive grabbed him and threw him against the wall. Afterwards, he gathered the 3 Hive members and put them together. Afterwards, he took a few moments and sent them off to Slade's headquarters, though their shadows. Afterwards, Clive fell down on his rear, sitting on the ground.  
  
Clive: " Well, that was fun. Is everyone alright?"  
  
Terra: " Yeah, I'm alright. I think we got everyone out."  
  
Cyborg: " All the employees are present, and we got all the customers..."  
  
Starfire: " A success!"  
  
Beastboy: " Dude, you were awesome!"  
  
Clive was still sitting down, then hung his head and wiped some blood off his lip. It was then that everyone realized that his voice was a twinge higher than it usually was.  
  
Clive: " That girl fights dirty. Two shots below the belt...psh..."  
  
Cyborg: " Whoa man, are you alright?"  
  
Starfire: " You are damaged!"  
  
Clive: " Naaa...just some bruises and a bloody lip. I'll be fine. Stupid pink haired....bah."  
  
Clive got up shakily, then brushed himself off of all sorts of dust and debris from the fallen pizza shop. The 4 titans and Clive bowed their heads in respect to the wonderful and now destroyed restaraunt.  
  
Beastboy: " This sucks! That was the best pizza in town!"  
  
Starfire: " Truely a sad day it is."  
  
Terra: " What's wrong guys? I mean, it can be rebuilt after all."  
  
Cyborg: " Yeah...but what'll we eat until then? I mean, yeah sure, we've got our pizza in today...but what about tomorrow?"  
  
Clive: " You could always just make dinner."  
  
Cyborg: " Don't even joke about that."  
  
Terra: " Well...I don't mind. I'll eat whatever..."  
  
Beastboy: " But we can never decide on what to have! No one wants what I cook, no one but Terra wants what Star makes, Raven doesn't cook at all, Robin burns everything, and Cyborg is only good at the breakfast menu!"  
  
Clive: " I see. Well, in any case..."  
  
Cyborg: " Hold on, I'm getting a message from Robin.  
  
Cyborg looked down at his arm and activated the flashing red light that was coming from his comm link.   
  
Cyborg: " What's up Robin?"  
  
Robin: " There's trouble. I've detected Cinderblock at the Technology Institute in downtown. Raven and I will meet you guys there!"  
  
Cyborg: " No problem! We'll be there."  
  
Cyborg turned to the team.  
  
Cyborg: " Come on guys, we gotta hit down town. Cinderblocks that way."  
  
The 4 Titans ran for the car. Clive stayed where he was though.  
  
Cyborg: " Hey man, come on! Show off your stuff for Robin and you'll be in as a Titan."  
  
Starfire: " Yes, please! It would be wonderful if you could join us!"  
  
Clive: " Well, as I was saying, it's a great honor and all, but I have to take care of my sister. I'd love to join you guys, but being a Titan won't pay my bills or take care of my sister. Good luck you guys..."  
  
The 4 Titans by the car looked a bit sorrowful. Clive smiled to them, then waved.  
  
Clive: " See you guys later. You've got my number, so if you ever wanna hang out, and I'm free, give me a call..."  
  
Clive began walking down the street afterwards. He would have to head back to the tower to get his bike, but decided that he'd just best head home and pick it up later. The Titans got in the car afterwards and drove off to their destination in downtown. Clive watched them drive away, then whistled a little tune as he wandered home. 


	11. Jail Break, part 1

The Captain: Yep! How'd that last one go? This should be titled as part 4, but I thought that this would be more suitable. This'll have a little bit of everything as I turn the wheels of plot again. This fic will be over in about 4 more chapters I believe, but fret not, again, this is one of a series. Oh, don't forget, Teen Titan's will be coming out in a seasoned box set. Release date unknown, but as long as it's coming out, I'll be just fine! Sorry I keep saying that, but I'm pretty well worked up about it. And remember to keep reviewing! It's a wonder and a joy to recieve reviews! If you ever want to contact me for whatever reason, my email is King_Schmo@yahoo.com. Enjoy!  
  
Legal Tander: The Titans don't belong to me. I wish they'd belong to me, because then I'd make more episodes faster! And maybe bring out the comics a little quicker as well (J. Torres, I know you have some extra issues already finished (You told me so yourself damn it!!)) You'd best hurry up and release them, or else I'll have to get drastic and wait in a very impatient fashion for the next issue each month! Grrrr...)  
  
Shadow Requiem: Jail Break, part 1  
  
The Titans flew down the street as fast as they could. Cyborg had some lights and sirens on his car for such emergancies.  
  
Beastboy: " Dude, I never knew the car had those!"  
  
Cyborg: " Well, they're for a situation like this. We need to get Downtown quickly, so this tells people to get outta our way!"  
  
Terra: " Well, why couldn't you use this when we were hungry?"  
  
Cyborg: " Have you ever heard of responsibility? We can't just use the sirens like that!"  
  
Terra: " But it was really important! I could have starved to death!"  
  
Cyborg: " Yeah yeah."  
  
The Titans continued their drive, making their way to the institute. When they had gotten there, Robin and Raven were already involved in a fight. Cinderblock was carrying a large crate on his shoulder. Many of Slade's drones were running about, keeping Robin and Raven pinned down with fire from their hand held lasers. Cyborg opened up with numerous blasts from his sonic cannon, while Starfire began her usual barrage of starbolts, destorying many of the drones and giving Robin and Raven some cover to get out of the tight situation they were in.  
  
Robin then retaliated by throwing numerous of his exploding birdarangs, taking out a dozen more of the drones. Raven continued to hold up her shield to protect herself and Robin. Terra let loose by causing the ground right under the drones to shake and divide. The drones couldn't keep their footing, and many of them fell into the small fissures she was creating. Beastboy transformed into a mountain goat, then jumped over the fissures and shaking concrete almost as if it were a usual thing. He headbutt and kicked the faulty robots, knocking them all over the place. Needless to say, the Titan's had this handled. Unfortunately, Cinderblock was well on his way to getting away.  
  
Robin: " Beastboy, follow Cinderblock!"  
  
Beastboy: " Got it!"  
  
Beastboy transformed into a cheetah, then ran his hardest to catch up with the escaping villian. Finally, Cinderblock came into view as he was running down the street. Beastboy then took to the sky as an eagle, following Cinderblock to his destination. In the meantime, the other 5 titans cut down and finished off the rest of the drones.   
  
Cyborg: " Robin, what's going on?"  
  
Robin: " I don't know yet. We need to find out what Cinderblock stole. This has to be Slade's doing though. Beastboy will contact us once he's found out where Cinderblock was headed."  
  
Terra: " So, what now?"  
  
Robin: " Let's just scout the area a bit and see what we can find. Raven, you're with me. We'll be checking inside to see what was stolen and what it can be used for. Starfire, Cyborg, Terra, you 3 check the grounds outside the building for any left over enemies and clues."  
  
The Titans split into their 2 groups, and Starfire, Terra, and Cyborg began to look through the rubble of their fight to find any kind of clues. However, there wasn't much there except for high tech mechanics and all sorts of concrete from all the explosions scattered about. Starfire began to pick through the grass, looking for absolutely anything, while Cyborg used his ultra sensitive scanners to check everything out. Terra in the mean time just browsed over everything, seeming disinterested in searching for what was probably not there.  
  
As for Robin and Raven, they tracked back the path of destruction that Cinderblock left through the institute. The pair looked around for clues as they went, and made their way to the end of the trail. It was a large white room, very plain, and very unassuming. There had been marks of a crate being on the ground by Cinderblocks foot prints, and that would have been that crate he was carrying off.   
  
Robin: " Any ideas?"  
  
Raven: " Are you kidding me? There's nothing here. Looks like there WAS a crate here...but that's what Cinderblock has, and apparently there's nothing here to help us determine what was inside of it."  
  
Robin: " Maybe. But let's still take a look around.  
  
Robin and Raven then went to dusting for any kinds of fingerprints and other of the more abstract clues.  
  
On the otherside of town, Clive was still making his way home. It was about the time he was coming up to the city prison, when a pay phone began ringing as he passed it. Clive stopped and kept his eyes on the phone booth. Deep down, he knew this was Slade calling for him. Sighing, Clive picked up the phone.  
  
Clive: " What?"  
  
Slade: " Have I caught you at a bad time?"  
  
Clive: " Well, I was on my way home infact. Any particular reason you're calling me? I thought you ended out contract."  
  
Slade: " Oh, but I did Clive. You failed me, just as I expected you to."  
  
Clive: " And now, you've cancelled all your current payments, putting me back into the red again."  
  
Slade: " Well, you know how the world of work goes. Do a good job or else you lose your job."  
  
Clive: " Then why don't you fire those 3 stooges you sent."  
  
Slade: " I saw that. Did you do that all by yourself?"  
  
Clive: " So what if I did?"  
  
Slade: " Well done. But that is what I expected."  
  
Clive: " What do you want?"  
  
Slade: " Well, as I know you have a particular interest in the titans, or perhaps a particular interest in a certain Titan, I thought that I should let you know that they're about to stumble into a trap I've laid."  
  
Clive: " WHAT? What do you mean?"  
  
Slade: " Let's just say that I have a wild card in my possession, and if you do not do as I say, I will unleash the full potential of said wild card."  
  
Clive: " I call your bluff. You're just trying to trick me."  
  
Slade: " Am I? Am I really? What do you really think?"  
  
Clive: " ....."  
  
Slade: " Hurry up. I'm getting impatient."  
  
Clive sighed, smashing his fist through the glass of the telephone booth.   
  
Clive: " What the hell do you want?"  
  
Slade: " See that prison right there? Release the prisoners."  
  
fClive: " I refuse."  
  
Slade: " Do you? Well then, I'll just have my new errand boy do that, and then I'll have the Titan's eliminated. Every last one of them. Infact, it will be so terrible, that you won't even be able to identify them in any way, shape, or form."  
  
Clive: " You wouldn't!"  
  
Slade: " But I would. Now do it."  
  
Clive: " Damn you."  
  
Clive slammed the phone down on the hook. He turned towards the prison and placed a single hand on the large stone wall. He didn't want to do this again. And this time, he wouldn't even get paid. But, peoples lives were at stake, so he complied with his orders. CLive reached into his shadow and pulled out his guitar, taking a couple of steps back. He held it tightly, making the end crackle with a light blue energy. Then, once the moment seemed right, Clive struck the wall with it, blasting it open and sending large hunks of stone and rock out towards the main building. He walked in, making his shadow crawl up his body like before, making a protective suit on him. He pulled down his goggles and continued to smash his way into the prison, knocking guards out of his way with his large powerful swings. Finally, the guards were given the order to use lethal force against Clive. They drew their guns, and he stopped in his tracks seeing this, just outside the prisoners block.  
  
Guard: " Stop now and we won't have to shoot you."  
  
Clive: " Sorry gents, but I'll ask you kindly once to put those guns away."  
  
Guard: " Don't be stupid kid. Just do as we say and this won't have to get messy."  
  
Clive: " Sorry guys, but those bullets won't do anything to me. I'm virtually invincible, and those bullets will only bounce harmlessly off my body. Now then, I'd just suggest you just let me do my business and that'll be that."  
  
Clive continued to walk forwards, and the guards pulled the triggers on their guns. Bullets shot off and hit Clive's body, stopping suddenly as a crackle of bright blue energy seemed to emit from any location he was hit. They continued to fire until their clips were dry. Afterwards, Clive stopped, looking down at the ground seeing all sorts of bullets surround him. He smiled.  
  
Clive: " I told you guys, I'm invincible."  
  
Guard: " Some one get us some back up. Call the Titans because this one is out of our hands."  
  
Clive continued to walk through the prison, smashing open cells and walls with his guitar and through the use of his powers. Inmates ran amok, trashing everything they could and taking down guards, arming themselves, then taking to the streets. Clive sighed again, knowing he has done something quite terrible, and for a selfish good, but he hoped for the best. Still, he had more work to do. He hadn't even released have the prisoners in the facility.  
  
Meanwhile, back in downtown, Robin recieved a distress call from the prison on his communicator.  
  
Robin: " Hello? What's wrong?"  
  
Police Dispatcher: " Someone has broken into the prison and is releasing the prisoners!"  
  
Robin: " WHAT?"  
  
Police Dispatcher: " We can't get a visual on the guy, but he's male, wearing all black with goggles, black hair, and is carrying something that looks like a guitar."  
  
Robin: " Him again!"  
  
Robin put his communicator away, looking to Raven.  
  
Robin: " Clive's in the prison. He's releasing all the criminals."  
  
Raven: " You've got to be joking me. We spent 2 weeks putting almost 200 criminals in there alone, not to mention everyone else."  
  
Robin: " Let's just get over there and stop him first."  
  
Raven: " Alright."  
  
The pair made their way back outside, when Cyborg was getting done talking to a dispatcher on his communicator built in his arm.  
  
Cyborg: " We've got trouble Robin."  
  
Robin: " I know."  
  
Cyborg: " Cinderblock is in the Park right now terrorizing all the kids and such."  
  
Robin: " WHAT? Clive's at the prison now releasing all those guys we put in there 2 weeks ago, and then some."  
  
Cyborg: " Man, please tell me your kidding."  
  
Starfire: " No, that is not possible."  
  
Robin: " But that's what's happening right now. Terra, Beastboy, head for the park and stop Cinderblock. The rest of us will go for the prison."  
  
Terra: " Got it!"  
  
Beastboy transformed into a Pterodactyl, taking to the skies and picking up Terra. The pair made their way to the park to stop Cinderblock. In the meantime, the remaining 4 piled into the T-Car and made their way to the prison. Cyborgs sirens on the car cleared the cars from the road, and in a matter of about 10 minutes, they were up at the prison, pulling into the large hole Clive made in the walls. By then, most of the convicts had escaped out already, leaving only Clive and a select few prisoners to release. The Titans followed their way to him by finding the path of destruction he left. They did finally reach him, seeing him standing inside of a cell, sitting on a bed, staring at the ground in a depressed manner. He perked up a bit when he saw them.  
  
Clive: " Hey! You're al..."  
  
Robin: " Save it."  
  
Clive: " But...no...forget it. You're right."  
  
Clive turned his back and placed his hands behind himself, crossing over his wrists like Robin did last time. Robin walked over slowly, not sure whether this was a ploy or not. He took out his cuffs and placed them on Clive's wrists. He pulled Clive around to face the team. Cyborg had a disappointed look, Raven had her usual cold stare, and Starfire couldn't even face him.  
  
Cyborg: " Why did you do it man? Please don't tell me you were just lyin' to us that whole time."  
  
Starfire: " You betrayed us. I thought you were our friend...but I guess you were just playing games with us."  
  
Clive: " No...no, not at all. It's nothing like that. I did it for you guys...but..."  
  
Robin: " Why did you do it for us? What does that have to do with anything?"  
  
Slade: " Ahhh, but it has everything to do with it, Robin."  
  
Robin turned around to see Slade at their backside. Slade spoke in his unsettlingly creepy and cool tone, ringing his words throughout Robin's head. Robin grit his teeth and balled a fist, turning to Slade.  
  
Robin: " Slade..."  
  
Slade: " My my. Looks like you gave up so quickly Clive. Why for?"  
  
Clive: " You said you wouldn't hurt the Titans if I freed the prisoners. Well, I've done that. You never said I had to fight them or put up a struggle against them."  
  
Slade: " So you've twisted my words a bit."  
  
Clive: " I do what I can."  
  
Robin: " What's this all about Slade?"  
  
Slade: " Now Robin, you're a detective...why don't you tell me."  
  
Robin: " I..."  
  
Robin didn't have an idea what Slade was up to. What Cinderblock stole, why the prisoners were being released, and what he was doing with Clive again. Nothing was adding up at all.  
  
Slade: " Or did you not have my plans figured out already? Perhaps you should have stayed with your other father."  
  
Robin: " Don't bring him into this."  
  
Clive: " Alright Slade, I did your work, now get the hell out of here."  
  
Slade: " Well, a deal is a deal. You did you half, so I won't hurt the Titans. However, you might be interested to know that Plasmus is down in Soho right now. Who's to say what he may do down there with all of those bystanders and all..."  
  
Robin: " Raven, Cyborg, head there now!"  
  
Cyborg: " But what about you?"  
  
Robin: " I'll be fine. It's just Slade by himself, and I have Starfire to help me."  
  
Raven: " Let's go."  
  
The pair took off, heading back to the car, while Starfire and Robin readied themselves to face off against Slade. However, Slade shook his head, giving off an eerie and arrogant laugh.  
  
Slade: " Robin, you make it sound like I haven't got a contingency plan. Infact, I do."  
  
Slade pulled a large remote of some sorts from a pocket off his belt. He pressed the button, activating a red light on it, which usually ment trouble.   
  
Slade: " Now then, I'll be taking my leave. Robin is welcome to follow if he wants, but Starfire is to stay put. If she tries anything, kill her Clive."  
  
Clive: " Over my dead body."  
  
Slade: " Not yours. Perhaps your baby sister's though."  
  
Clive: " You wouldn't...."  
  
Slade: " If I press this button again, the whole building will come crashing down with her in it. Now then, I'll be leaving."  
  
Slade turned and began running for it. Robin stared at Clive and Starfire for a moment, then took off after Slade, figuring it would be best just to follow him at the moment. Clive fell to the ground on his bottom, sinking his face in his hands. Tears welled out of his eyes, and he began to ball a fist. Starfire slowly walked over to him and knelt down beside him.  
  
Starfire: " I am sorry of accusing you like I did. It was wrong of me."  
  
Clive still didn't say anything. He was sobbing quietly, trying to hide his face from Starfire. Clive was a very prideful person inside, and though he'd tell anyone else that it was ok to cry, he still didn't want it to show.  
  
Starfire: " Please, not only do I forgive you, but I also beg forgiveness as well. I will help you find your sister."  
  
Clive looked up at her for a moment, his eyes shining from the tears they shed. He looked back down to the ground, touching his shadow as his black bodysuit disappeared. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, using his many other powers. Clive sighed, gaining some composure as he worked his magic, so to speak. He opened them a few moments later.  
  
Clive: " I don't know what's going on, but she's nowhere to be found. I can't find her shadow anywhere...."  
  
Starfire: " I do not understand."  
  
Clive: " Ok, I can identify someone by their shadow...but I can also find someone by it as well...but I can't find hers!"  
  
Clive's voice was waivering around. It was sounded so worried and tired that it made Starfire cringe a bit listening.  
  
Starfire: " But surely, she must be somewhere..."  
  
Clive: " The last place I can track her to is the house."  
  
Starfire: " Then let us find the others and save Sherri."  
  
Clive looked down to the ground, then up at Starfire again. She had a sweet and honest smile on her face, one that reassured Clive that maybe everything would be alright. He got up slowly, brushing himself off, then exhaled again, regaining his composure.  
  
Clive: " Thanks Star. Let's go." 


	12. Jail Break, part 2

The Captain: Alright, time to get the ball rolling. Maybe I'll have this fic ended by next weekend at latest. Maybe this weekend if I work fast enough! If so, then rock on, I can start the second fic in the story. Title wise, I've picked out some names, all relevant to the theme of the story, but I don't know which to pick. They all sound kinda corny really. Back in Black, Dark Savior, Shadow Requiem II, Trust and Betrayal, and others. That last one I was thinking would work...but I still am not too sure yet. I hope you like this. It's a bit short, but I think it's kinda sweet. Again, it has a little something for everyone.  
  
Legal Tander: Well, I'm out of witty responses. I don't own the Titans, plain and simple. Don't sue me, I don't have any money to give.  
  
Shadow Requiem: Jail Break, part 2  
  
Terra and Beastboy flew through the skies heading for the park to catch up with Cinderblock. Terra sat on Beastboy's back as they glided along the winds.  
  
Terra: " Hey Beastboy, what do you think is going on? I mean, everythings starting to go nuts around the city."  
  
Beastboy: " Good question. I really can't believe Clive's back to his crime streak. I really thought he was one of us."  
  
Terra: " I think he is deep down...but you know how persuasive Slade can be."  
  
Beastboy: " That's true."  
  
Terra: " Hey look! There's the park and there's Cinderblock!"  
  
Terra pointed down towards the ground, bringing the monsterous rock creature into view. Cinderblock was stomping through a playground, sending children and their parents running for their lives. Terra jumped off Beastboy's back, pulling her goggles over her face and using her power to summon up a chunk of rock for her to stand on. She dazzled everyone with her amazing control and ability. She swooped around Cinderblock, circling him repeatedly as she threw large rocks at him from the ground. Beastboy swooped around till he was directly overhead Cinderblock, transforming into a hippo and dropping out of the sky onto him. Cinderblock fell under Beastboy's weight, and once he got off, Terra covered him over with a self made landslide.  
  
The pair were about to celebrate, but were cut short when the rocks began to shake around. Cinderblock shoved the rocks off of him, then he stood up and pulled himself out of the landslide. He took rock after rock and began throwing them at the pair. Terra countered with more rocks of her own, but it was an inevitable stalemate. Beastboy circled around in the form of a mole, coming up behind Cinderblock, then transforming into a squid and wrapping him up in all his arms. With him distracted by Beastboy, Terra gathered up all the rocks in the area, creating a huge, almost mountainous chunk of rock and rose it well above her head. She slowly floated it over Beastboy and Cinderblock, holding it in place. Beastboy let go of Cinderblock once he saw the rock, then turned into a cheetah in order to get out from under the rock.   
  
Once Terra knew he was out, she dropped it down on Cinderblock, who didn't get back up this time. Terra rolled the rock off of him, breaking it back down into it's smaller pieces and redistributed them all over the park. The police were very close by, so Beastboy brought them since it was safe, in which they detained Cinderblock.  
  
Terra: " Whew, that was fun."  
  
Beastboy: " Ok, so what now? I guess we should head for the prison."  
  
Starfire: " That shall not be necessary."  
  
The pair looked up to see Starfire floating down to the ground, hanging on to Clive's hands whom which was dangling in mid air. When they were close enough, Starfire let go of Clive, allowing him to drop down to the ground infront of Terra and Beastboy.  
  
Terra: " Ok dude, what's going on."  
  
Clive: " My sister is in trouble...so we need all the help we can muster."  
  
Terra: " Well, alright. But I didn't know you had a sister."  
  
Starfire: " Indeed he does. She is very nice and makes very good food."  
  
Beastboy: " Well, let's go guys."  
  
Clive: " Hang on, we need to go pick up Raven and Cyborg. They're dealing with Plasmus in Soho right now."  
  
Terra: " You're kidding me!"  
  
Beastboy: " Dude, Plasmus is nasty!"  
  
Clive: " Well, just suck it up and do it. Come on, we don't have forever. Robin's chasing down Slade right now, so maybe we can get this done quickly."  
  
Beastboy: " Well then, let's do this!"  
  
Beastboy once again transformed into a Pterodactyl, allowing Terra to climb up on his back and carry him. Starfire grabbed Clive's hands and brought him up into the air with her, and the 4 of them flew through the city, making a B-line for Cyborg and Raven, who were not having the greatest of times dealing with Plasmus. Raven continued to use her powers on a telephone pole, jousting it into Plasmus at every available opportunity. Cyborg continued to keep his distance from the disgusting blob, firing shots from his sonic cannon into it. However, the 2 together didn't have the explosive force needed to stop him. The good thing was, that Plasmus couldn't really do anything to hurt the 2 Titans, as Raven was floating too high up in the air, and Cyborg continued to run around the monster, making it too hard to just grab him.  
  
As the 3 Titans and Clive decended on the battle, Starfire fired out a blast from her eyes, hitting Plasmus in the top of the head, drawing his attention briefly from Raven and Cyborg. Plasmus threw his arms up, send out of glob of his body at the 4 in the air. Beastboy and Terra broke away to avoid the glob, but it ended up smacking right into Clive and Starfire, who fell to the ground, covered in Plasmus' filth.  
  
Clive: " Oh my god...I feel like I just got flushed down a toilet...."  
  
Starfire: " Is that what happened to Plasmus?  
  
Clive: " I don't know, but if he ruined this shirt, I'm gonna ruin him!"  
  
Clive got up slowly, pulling his guitar out of his shadow for the 3rd time today. He then made a running start at Plasmus, with his now messy hawaiian shirt flapping as he went. With a well placed jump, Clive landed on top of Plasmus and smashed his guitar into his back, blowing a hole in Plasmus' chest. Clive jumped up and off Plasmus, turning around and slashing his guitar straight down Plasmus' body, cutting him in two. Afterwards, Clive rose his hand, much like a boxer would after he had won a bout. He stood over 2 halves of a body, so he did have some reason to gloat, but not a whole lot. The 2 pieces laid there, almost as if they were dead.   
  
Cyborg: " Hey! Hey what's up guys? What all's goin' on?"  
  
Terra: " Slade's pulling some strings and now he's got Clive's sister hostage."  
  
Cyborg: " That would be why he was releasing the prisoners then?"  
  
Clive: " Yeah. My sister is in my apartment I think. However, Slade says it's ready to blow, all he has to do it push a button."  
  
Starfire: " Then we must hurry."  
  
Raven: " Wait...where is Robin?"  
  
Clive: " I don't know, probably still chasing Slade."  
  
Cyborg: " So, we gotta go get your sister outta there first. Then we'll deal with Slade. Let's go Titans!"  
  
Clive: " I'll take us to the apartment. We'll get there faster."  
  
Starfire: " It will not hurt you will it? I mean when you do the teleporting."  
  
Clive: " Well, there's 6 of us...so it'll be tough, but I'll be alright. Now come in a bit guys, I don't want to have to do anymore than I have to for this."  
  
Everyone crowded in closely as Clive spread out his shadow, causing it to swallow them all once again. A moment later, after traveling through that dark world they were all becoming slowly accustomed to, they appeared at Clive's apartment complex. Clive keeled over to catch his breath and shake his dizziness.  
  
Clive: " You'd think...I'd get used....to this....after a while..."  
  
Starfire: " But it is a very effective means of transportation."  
  
Clive: " Yeah...I know..."  
  
Raven: " That's enough. Let us find the girl..."  
  
Clive: " Hold on...Slade will probably know we're here."  
  
Cyborg: " Great, so what are we supposed to do?"  
  
Clive: " Well...damn..."  
  
Cyborg: " What?"  
  
Clive: " If this is the building, then we're gonna have to get everyone out."  
  
Terra: " He's right. Think of how many people live here."  
  
Starfire: " That would be aweful. I do not wish to think of how many lives would be lost."  
  
Beastboy: " Dude, this is totally uncool. Come on guys..."  
  
The Titans and Clive made a run for the building, breaking down the door and tearing through the halls. Clive made his way to the elevator with the others, desparately searching for Sherri. Cyborg used his mechanical senses and radars to search for bombs and such. He pin pointed a pair of them underground. Switching his communicator, Cyborg spoke to the others.  
  
Cyborg: " I got some good news, and I got some real bad news. The good news is, this is the right building. 2 bombs are placed in the boiler room along the main support beams."  
  
Terra: " Then we can just take them out and turn them off, right?"  
  
Cyborg: " That's the really bad news. My readouts are saying that they're hyper sensitive. A sudden shake and it'll go. If someone tries to open it up, it'll go as well. They're not explosive though. They're a sonic propulsion device, so instead of blowing up, they'll just make the whole building shake and crumble without all the fire and such."  
  
Raven: " Then we evacuate quickly."  
  
A signal came in and over rided all of the Titan's communicators.  
  
Slade: " I see you're all together again. Such a touching scene it is."  
  
Clive grabbed the communicator from Starfire and placed it up to his face.  
  
Clive: " You bastard! Where is Sherri?"  
  
Slade: " Ah yes, Sherri...she's very nice, isn't she."  
  
Clive: " WHERE IS SHE!"  
  
Slade: " Why, she's closer than you think."  
  
Clive looked around and made his way to his apartment. He didn't bother to open the door, for instead, he just broke it down. Frantically, he searched the small apartment, pulling furniture aside, checking in every enclosed space, nook, and cranny. He searched the apartment twice over, before checking back with Slade.  
  
Clive: " Where did you take her?"  
  
Slade: " Well, why don't you come and find out, if you can get out of there."  
  
Clive: " What?"  
  
Slade pulled the remote he had earlier into view. Clive, as well as the rest of the Titans watching, froze up, expecting the worst. Slade pressed the button, and the building began to shake. Clive fell over in his room as the rest of the Titans started to panic. Raven however, calmed them quickly.   
  
Raven: " Everyone! Get as many people out of here as you can!"  
  
The Titans began running into different apartments and grabbed as many people as they could carry each time. The building began to sway however, and started to crumble, starting with the south wall. Everyone started bracing for the building to fall, when it suddenly came under control. Terra, who was the first person outside, saw a gigantic black claw pressed into the building on the east side of it. Beastboy and Cyborg arrived out the north side, seeing another large black claw, raising from a shadow and imprinted into the building. Cyborg came from the west side of the building almost ran into a third claw, all three holding up the shaking building to a degree. Inside, Starfire watched as Clive caused the building's shadow to rise up and help support it. Sweat slowly began to build as he focused, closing his eyes and seeing out through the shadows.  
  
Clive: " Star..."  
  
Starfire: " Clive, you have stopped the building from falling! Glorious!"  
  
Clive: " Star...get everyone out of here! I can't do this for too long."  
  
Starfire: " I shall! Please be strong!"  
  
Starfire continued to help people out while Clive toiled with his powers. The other Titans ran inside, talking with eachother through the use of their communicators in order to find which rooms haven't been evacuated. The building once again lurched, and a loud cracking sound echoed through the halls as another wall fell outwards and to the ground. Starfire checked in on Clive, whom which was down on one knee now with his hands dug deep into his shadow. Sweat dripped off his brow and his breathing became heavy. The use of his powers and the weight of the building began to really take it's toll on Clive.  
  
Starfire: " Please hold on just a bit longer! We've got all but the top 3 floors."  
  
Clive didn't say anything. He was so focused that he barely heard her. The Titans began working on the 7th floor, and the building lurched once again. The floor started to crack all over the building and began to cave in. Clive realized this as he noticed his floor reay to cave in as well.  
  
Clive: " Damn it...come on..."  
  
Black: " You need me, don't you..."  
  
Clive: " If you're not busy..."  
  
Clive's shadow nodded, raising out of the ground and over taking the young man. As Black's body fully formed, it rose up, raising it's arms and pressed it's hands against the cieling, supporting it through his great strength. The large claws that gripped the sides of the buildings grew in size, and smaller clawed arms rose all around the building, reinforcing weaker areas. Black let out some grunts as he used his powers. It wasn't from fatigue though, but rather that he was still working on that wound Starfire gave him. It had healed over, but it still caused him some great pains. Plus, he had already appeared earlier that day, so his time was very short for this world.  
  
The Titan's redoubled their efforts and scurried the people on the top floor out. Star made a last check on Clive, surprised to see Black as he held up the building.  
  
Starfire: " You are Black now? Are you alright?"  
  
Black looked over to Starfire and nodded slightly.  
  
Black: " Get...out..."  
  
Starfire: " You are tired! Come, we have gotten everyone out of here. It is just you and I now!"  
  
Black: " Get...out...now...or you'll...be crushed!"  
  
Starfire: " But what about you?"  
  
Black: " Foolish girl!"  
  
Black threw out his hand, causing Starfire's shadow to sprout tenticles and wrap around her. It drug her into itself, causing her to reappear on the ground away from the building with the other Titans.  
  
Black: " There Clive. She is safe. They'll take care of everything now."  
  
The building swayed left and right, then began to shake around, finally collapsing floor to floor, sinking down and throwing up a huge pile of dust and rubble with a loud roar. The Titans looked around to make sure everyone was ok after the smoke passed on.  
  
Cyborg: " Is everyone out?"  
  
Raven: " Yes. All the residents are out."  
  
Starfire: " No wait! Black...he and Clive were..."  
  
Beastboy: " No way...it can't be."  
  
Terra: " You mean, he's gone?"  
  
Raven: " Let me check."  
  
Cyborg: " I will too!"  
  
The pair used their powers and abilities to scan for Clive and Black. While Raven used some kind of telepathy, Cyborg checked around using his scanners, searching for some kind of life. After a few quiet minutes, Cyborg looked to the ground and Raven shook her head.  
  
Raven: " I could not detect him. If he escaped, I would have sensed his presence. But I cannot, which means that he didn't survive."  
  
Cyborg: " I couldn't find anything either. Nothing warm in there that resembles life..."  
  
The 5 Titans remained quiet, as a solomn moment passed over each and every person there. Starfire was probably the first who fell into tears.  
  
Starfire: " No! This is not right! This cannot happen! This cannot be!"  
  
Raven: " I know it's hard Starfire...but it is the truth, and it is reality. This is no fairy tale Starfire...This is the real world, and here, bad things do happen."  
  
Terra: " Lay off on her Raven. Can't you see that this isn't just something to file away and not care about?"  
  
Raven: " One must accept the truth. It may be hard to, but that is the only way to get past things and to advance in life."  
  
Cyborg: " Just quit it y'all...let's just go."  
  
Beastboy: " Man..."  
  
The 5 Titans began to leave, and Starfire took one last look at the huge pile of rubble that used to be a building, and now acted as a tomb. She shook her head and continued on to find Robin, Sherri, and Slade. 


	13. To the Rescue, part 1

The Captain: Alrighty! One more chapter left! I'm gonna bring this fic to a close, so get ready for a knock down, drag out, free for all in this next chapter to come Whoo whoo! It's been a lovely ride so far, so let's not let it snowball now. Let's all welcome Mystic-Fox to our little fan club and thank her for her lovely review! Well, just so you all know, Monday at 2pm, I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed. Yeah, it ought to be a fun experience....except that I need to be fully awake for the procedure. Well, whatever...I'll have plenty of time off from work and school, so expect to see the big finale by this wednesday!  
  
Legal Tander: Well, I'm out of witty responses. I don't own the Titans, plain and simple. Don't sue me, I don't have any money to give.  
  
Shadow Requiem: To the Rescue, part 1  
  
The Titans walked through the city as the sun began to slowly sink down into the horizon. Cyborg led the pack as they traced a signal sent off by Robin's communicator, in an attempt to find Slade. Raven and Starfire flew overhead, scouring ahead for any possible traps set, while Beastboy and Terra followed behind Cyborg. As Raven and Starfire flew overhead, they talked lightly between each other.  
  
Starfire: " Raven, I have a question..."  
  
Raven: " Yes Starfire?"  
  
Starfire: " What shall happen to Clive's sister?"  
  
Raven: " What do you mean Starfire?"  
  
Starfire: " Well, without anyone to take care of her...what will happen?"  
  
Raven: " She'll be placed in a foster home."  
  
Starfire: " That sounds aweful."  
  
Raven: " It's not that bad Star. The foster home is a safe place where she can feel accepted. Much like a new family."  
  
Starfire: " But she has lost all of her family."  
  
Raven: " You are right. It will be something hard to deal with."  
  
Starfire continued to fly on silently. Raven looked over at her, allowing her powers to wander over and give Starfire a brief check on her feelings and thoughts. Raven only did this when she felt that it was important. While scanning her mind, he noticed that her thoughts fell on Clive quite a bit. Though Raven had personally not gotten to know Clive, she could tell that he hadn't been a bad guy. She saw everything though...from when they had dinner at his apartment, to the fun they had eating at the Pizza shop. She felt that Starfire had grown somewhat attached to the young man. Starfire looked over at Raven, whom which seemed to be predisposed.  
  
Starfire: " Raven? Raven, are you alright?"  
  
Raven snapped out of it and responded to Starfire.  
  
Raven: " I'm alright Starfire. I'm just a little worried about Robin and the girl. I can't detect Robin either. Slade must be using something to interfere with my powers."  
  
Starfire: " That is truely troubling."  
  
Raven: " Come on Star, what else is on your mind?"  
  
Starfire: "..."  
  
Raven: " I could always just read your mind."  
  
It wasn't like she hadn't, but Raven knew how to get Starfire to cope with her problems much better than she usually did. Starfire turned a little red at the tought of her knowing everything she had felt and such.  
  
Starfire: " I...I just wish Clive did not have to die like that."  
  
Raven: " It's quite unfortunate. You seemed to be rather close to him."  
  
Starfire: " I...I guess. He was really nice to me. Even though..."  
  
Raven: " You're not going to go dribbling on about how stupid you think you are..."  
  
Starfire: " I know I'm not...but many people do not like me just because I do not know the ways of this world very well. Though I've been here for almost 2 years now..."  
  
Raven: " What does that have to do with him?"  
  
Starfire: " Well...he is my friend. He is all our friend. He sacrificed himself so that we could get out of there...I just feel that all this time has been a big waste of effort."  
  
Starfire continued to blither on about things, even getting slightly philosophical by quoting some old Tameranian poets and anthropologists. Whatever the case, Raven had to put a stop to this, as Starfire began to slowly drift towards the ground. The unhappy thoughts she was having were causing her powers to slip. Raven grabbed Star and held her up.  
  
Raven: " Look Starfire, if you want to make yourself feel better, then you must make sure that he didn't die in vain."  
  
Starfire: " I don't understand Raven."  
  
Raven: " What was Clive going to do?"  
  
Starfire: " Save his sister..."  
  
Raven: " Then save his sister and put his soul at ease."  
  
Starfire looked to the ground, taking Ravens words to heart. She was right. With a renewed resolve, Starfire continued her viewing of the city from above, still on the lookout for traps while the others continued to trace Robin. The sun had finally set and the sky was dark and moonless, making everything much harder to see. Raven and Starfire landed and began traveling with the group on foot. Finally, Cyborg stopped, looking down at the ground.  
  
Beastboy: " What is it big guy?"  
  
Cyborg: " Well...we're here."  
  
Terra: " What do you mean?"  
  
Cyborg: " I've tracked Robin's communicator. It's right here underneath us."  
  
Raven: " Then Robin must lie below."  
  
Cyborg: " Seems that way."  
  
Starfire: " Then we must go below and rescue both of them!"  
  
Cyborg: " I know...I know. But we don't know of an enterance yet."  
  
Raven: " Then we should just head into the sewers and investigate an enterance."  
  
The Titans wandered over to a nearby manhole and popped the cover off. Setting it aside, the 5 climbed down the hole and into the sewers. Cyborg and Starfire created lights for everyone to see with, and they began following through the system of underground tunnels, going deeper and deeper into the earth. Finally, they came to a deadend after hours of searching.  
  
Cyborg: " Man! That's it! I can't take this anymore. We're still right on top of it, and we've been going through this place for the last 3 hours! I'm sick of this! I just want to get Robin and get out of here!"  
  
Starfire: " Do not forget Sherri. She is also with him."  
  
Cyborg: " I know Star...I'm just a little stressed out."  
  
Raven: " Calm down...let's just take a moment and think up a plan..."  
  
Terra: " Hey...why don't I just make us a tunnel and go straight there..."  
  
Beastboy: " Yeah! That's a great idea!"  
  
Raven: " I'll help."  
  
Raven and Terra found a nice solid wall and started to dig into it, making a path as Cyborg directed them. They bore deep into the ground, and after a half an hour of digging, they came to a sudden opening. Cyborg was the first one to take a look and see what was going on. He dropped out of the newly made hole and landed on a steel platform below, being followed by the other 4. He readied his sonic blaster and pointed it outwards in defense of himself and the others. He and Starfire shined their lights around, seeing all sorts of hightech equipment and computers.   
  
Cyborg: " Well...atleast we're here."  
  
Beastboy: " Where is here?"  
  
A voice came over the loudspeaker.  
  
Slade: " Ahhh...good to see you could make it. I was afraid that without your fearless leader...you wouldn't have found a way in. Though, you could have used the front door. But you're here none the less."  
  
Beastboy: " Come on out Slade! Show yourself!"  
  
Slade: " Oh, but I'll be out soon enough. I just need to finish up..."  
  
Raven: " Whatever you're planning...it won't work."  
  
Slade: " On the contrary Raven...I've already succeeded."  
  
Starfire: " Give back Robin and Sherri!"  
  
Slade: " Oh, Starfire...don't worry, you'll get to see them shortly. But...where is my errand boy Clive? I half expected to see him here. Did that building fall on him?"  
  
Starfire: " What?"  
  
Slade: " Well...such a shame. He almost had what it took to be my apprentice...but that's alright, because I have my old one back."  
  
Cyborg: " Give up Slade, else we're gonna..."  
  
Slade: " You're going to what? Fight me? Kick my butt as you might say? Well...I don't know that. Take a look..."  
  
A moniter fell over the 5 Titans showing all sorts of views of the city. All of a sudden, they were filled with criminals, each armed with all sorts of weapons. They began to pillage through the city, smashing open stores and stealing, turning over cars, and bringing general chaos to a whole new level.  
  
Slade: " Now then...what to do. You've got an army of criminals outside, with the orders to rape, pillage and murder, and then you've got me in here with Robin and Sherri...so where do your priorities lie?"  
  
Cyborg: " You...you!"  
  
A large panel opened up in the ceiling, revealing Robin and Sherri hanging over a large pit by some chains.   
  
Slade: " Save your friends, or save the city. Those men there are armed with high powered explosive rifles. Within a few hours, they could reduce the city to ashes."  
  
Starfire: " That is not fair!"  
  
Slade: " Nothing in life is ever fair."  
  
Raven: " We need a plan!"  
  
Cyborg: " Raven...you and Beastboy head back and worry about the criminals. The rest of us will deal with Slade."  
  
Raven: " Are you sure?"  
  
Cyborg: " It's just him...I'm sure the 3 of us can do it."  
  
Slade: " Well...not quite."  
  
Beastboy: " What?"  
  
A ball of fire rocketed forth from an unknown location. It exploded once it contacted the ground infront of the Titans. It wasn't ment to hit them though, but merely as a show of power. From behind it, a man stepped out, wearing a grey overcoat, a red shirt with black jeans, a long red scarf over his neck and mouth, a grey tuboggan, and a pair of sunglasses. He was quite strange in appearance, but he gave off a fairly intimidating aura. Raven tensed up greatly, feeling a deep swelling in his power.  
  
Slade: " Meet my new errand boy, Smoke."  
  
Smoke, stood up fully. He was of a lean build, and about 6'3" inches tall. He took a strange fighting stance, holding up both his hands as they caught on fire. Cyborg stepped up.  
  
Cyborg: " I'll handle this. BB...Raven...get going. Terra, Star, start searching for Slade."  
  
Slade: " I wouldn't bother. I'm not even here Cyborg. But give Smoke a shot at you. I promise that you won't be disappointed."  
  
Cyborg: " Fine then. Come on, let's see what you've got!"  
  
Smoke didn't say anything, running right for Cyborg, who charged right back at him. When they met, Cyborg took a swing at Smoke, who parried his large arm away, then jumped up on Cyborgs back and stomped on his head, jumping off afterwards. As Cyborg went to turn around, Smoke had him beat to the punch, throwing an enormous ball of fire at Cyborg. Cyborg ducked down, allowing it to hit his large metallic back, exploding into flames and spreading fire everywhere. Smoke stood there, motionless afterwards, allowing Cyborg to gain back his composure once he extinguished the fire.  
  
Cyborg: " Well...you're definitely better than I thought you would be."  
  
Smoke: " Thanks."  
  
Cyborg: " So...you talk huh."  
  
Smoke: " Yeah."  
  
Cyborg: " Well, that's nice. You control fire?"  
  
Smoke: " Yeah."  
  
Cyborg: " How do you like high decible blasts?"  
  
Smoke: " Love'm."  
  
Cyborg: " Then come get your fill!"  
  
Cyborg fired off a couple of shots from his cannon. They missed Smoke though. Infact, they passed right through him! After the second shot passed through, Cyborg realized that he wasn't even there.  
  
Cyborg: " Man! Come on out!"  
  
He heard Smokes voice from all around. He had gotten on the loud speaker.  
  
Smoke: " Can't find me? You'd think a guy like me would be easy to pick out in the dark..."  
  
In the meantime, Starfire and Terra made their way to Robin and Sherri. Starfire attended to Sherri, pulling her off of the chain, while Terra helped Robin. The pair were unconscious, so they could help themselves down. However, a quick slip in Starfire's grasp caused Sherri to fall towards the large pit. She flew down to catch her, but she just wasn't fast enough. Before Sherri fell in however, Smoke jumed across, catching her in mid-air, landing on the other side with her cradled in his arms.   
  
Starfire: " Let her go!"  
  
Smoke: " Now now...seems she's safer in my hands than yours. Had I not saved her, she'd have fallen to her death..."  
  
Starfire: " ..."  
  
Smoke: " So your Starfire?"  
  
Starfire: " Yes, I am."  
  
Smoke: " I see."  
  
Smoke set Sherri down, then jumped onto a couple of crates and into the air, tackling Starfire. The pair landed on the ground with Smoke on top of her. He held her face in his left hand and pulled his right hand close, making a fire light in it. The room was dark, so this let Smoke see her face. He smiled under his scarf.  
  
Smoke: " Well...that would explain it."  
  
Starfire thrashed around a moment, then threw Smoke off of her. He flipped in mid-air, landing on his feet easily, as the other 2 Titans came up behind Starfire, giving her support.  
  
Starfire: " What did you mean?"  
  
Smoke: " My my. You're quite a pretty girl. I guess I have to give the poor guy some credit for taste."  
  
Starfire: " Poor guy?"  
  
Smoke: " Clive...poor guy."  
  
Starfire: " You knew him?"  
  
Smoke: " Yes and no."  
  
Cyborg: " Enough guys! Come on, let's get Robin and Sherri out of here."  
  
Smoke: " Hang on...I can't just let you go...I still have to get in your way a little bit longer..."  
  
Cyborg: " I don't think..."  
  
Suddenly, before Cyborg could finish, everything became dark. All the machines in the large structure shut off and everything became quiet.  
  
Cyborg: " Is this one of your tricks?"  
  
Smoke: " Well...that would be useless. I control fire, moron. It would only make me a dead give away..."  
  
Starfire held her hand up to shine a light. Though she was using her power, she still couldn't see anything. Infact, she couldn't even see her palm glowing. She gave out a shriek, realizing the problem.  
  
Cyborg: " Star? What's wrong?"  
  
Cyborg flashed his light around to where he heard Star. The light turned on, but nothing came out. He knew the light was good. It was his body after all. But something was blocking out the light.  
  
Cyborg: " Something is blocking out the light."  
  
Terra: " Hey! Where's Smoke?"  
  
Smoke: " I'm still here..."  
  
Starfire: " What is going on?"  
  
Smoke: " Hey, I thought this was your guy's ide...!"  
  
A loud thwack was heard. It sounded like someone was just hit over the head. Then, an explosion was heard. Numerous yells from Smoke and someone else were heard, and then, all went silent. The darkness passed over, and the Titans, along side with Robin and Sherri were the only ones there.  
  
Cyborg: " What just happened?"  
  
Terra: " Beats me. Are the other 2 ok?"  
  
Starfire: " Yes, they are with me."  
  
Cyborg: " Then let's get up there and stop those prisoners!"  
  
With that, the 3 titans carried their friends up through the tunnels, heading up to give Raven and Beastboy some assistance. 


	14. To the Rescue, part 2

The Captain: Last Chapter time! I've gonna make sure this one's done right. I'll be a good long one too! Lots of action, dramatics, and I'll throw some comedy somewhere. I had a problem with the ending...but I got it worked out and I do think I did end it pretty well. Always remember to review my story, and if you ever wanna chat with me, I'm on AoL from time to time (Samurai Baker X) or just E-mail me at King_Schmo@yahoo.com.  
  
Legal Tander: Well, I'm out of witty responses. I don't own the Titans, plain and simple. Don't sue me, I don't have any money to give.  
  
Shadow Requiem: To the Rescue, part 2  
  
Raven and Beastboy were running through the city as a large mob ran for then with guns blazing. The pair took to the skies and took a moment to hide up on a rooftop and regroup. Ever since they had made it back to the surface, they've been on the run. Those criminals were quite dangerous, and the pair were illy prepared for such a large crowd.  
  
Beastboy: " Dude...this sucks. All we've been doing is running."  
  
Raven: " We don't have a lot of options right now. They were waiting for us right when we came up from the sewers."  
  
Beastboy: " So any ideas at all?"  
  
Raven: " Not really...but they've already taken down a couple of buildings. Without using any kind of lethal force, this will be very hard."  
  
Beastboy: " Any word from the others?"  
  
Raven: " Not yet. Hold on a moment..."  
  
Raven whipped out her communicator off of her bangle, flipping it open and reaching Cyborg.  
  
Cyborg: " Raven! What's up?"  
  
Raven: " Well...not much will be if you guys don't get up here. Beastboy and I can't even face them down. If one see's us, they all turn and shoot. Even my force field won't hold up."  
  
Cyborg: " Well, we're on our way."  
  
Beastboy: " So what happened? Is everything alright?"  
  
Cyborg: " Yes and no. Slade and Smoke got away, but we've got Robin and Sherri. Looks like they're beginning to wake up to."  
  
Raven: " Who's Smoke?"  
  
Cyborg: " Long story made short, he's Slade's new running man."  
  
Raven: " Great. So, does anyone have any ideas? Because there's just an army of them down there and even my powers can't quite deal with that."  
  
Cyborg: " Hang on Raven. We'll be up there shortly. We'll just regroup together and just start putting a hurt on them!"  
  
Raven: " Whatever...just hurry up."  
  
Raven closed the link and put her communicator away, looking to Beastboy.  
  
Raven: " Alright, they'll by up shortly. However, until then, we need to slow this crowd down before they go destroying anymore more."  
  
On cue, the sound of a few rounds from their high powered rifle's echoed through the streets of the dark city. Explosions were heard and felt as a small office building was brought to the ground. Police and Firefighters were avoiding the crowd in fear of their own lives, just waiting on the Titan's to show up and save the day. Raven peeked over the ledge of the building she and Beastboy were hiding on, observing the crowd below. They were terribly rowdy, shooting up anything on the streets and stealing whatever wasn't bolted down or too heavy to carry. The city behind them looked like a warzone. With crumbled buildings and smoking heaps, you'd think that a battalion of tanks had just rolled through.  
  
However, not to far underground, the other 3 Titans were running their hardest to make it back to the surface. Cyborg was carrying Robin over his shoulder while Starfire carried Sherri while in flight. The pair started to awaken though, causing the 3 running Titans to stop and let them down. Robin shook his head, rubbing it slightly.  
  
Robin: " Ugh...what happened?"  
  
Cyborg: " You alright Robin?"  
  
Robin: " Yeah...I'm fine."  
  
Starfire: " It is wonderful that you are in better health."  
  
Robin: " Yeah well, I still have a ringing in my ears...but that's no big deal."  
  
Terra: " You sure you're gonna be ok dude?"  
  
Robin: " Yeah...I'll be fine. So what's going on?"  
  
Cyborg: " Well...remember all them inmates that got released?"  
  
Robin: " Yeah."  
  
Cyborg: " Slade armed them all with these high powered rifles. They're tearing up the city...Raven and BB can't do anything right now since there's too many of them."  
  
Robin: " I see. Well...I think I've got a plan..."  
  
Sherri started to come around about now, so Starfire sat her down on the ground. She looked around, seeing the 4 Titan's around her.  
  
Sherri: " Whoa...what's going on?"  
  
Robin: " What all do you remember?"  
  
Sherri: " Huh? Well, I was in my house doing some cleaning, and then everything went black. Then, I woke up in this strange place, talked with a guy with a long red scarf. I got knocked out again somehow, and here I am. What's going on..."  
  
Robin: " Well, you were kidnapped by a man named Slade, just like I was."  
  
Sherri: " A man named Slade? No no no...Slade is the guy my brother works for. He's his personal assistant...that can't be right."  
  
Robin: " Sherri...was it?"  
  
Sherri: " Yeah."  
  
Robin: " Well...there's something we need to tell you..."  
  
Starfire interrupted the conversation, remembering that Clive didn't want Sherri to know about his powers.  
  
Starfire: " Slade is actually an aweful man. He tricked Clive into working for him."  
  
Sherri: " Really? But what's the big deal? I mean, all my brother did was just take calls for him and did all his paperwork stuff."  
  
Robin: " It's not that..."  
  
Starfire: " Well, Clive...ummm..."  
  
Robin pulled Starfire aside, realizing that she was obviously up to something. They spoke in very low whispers.  
  
Robin: " Star, what's the matter?"  
  
Starfire: " Clive said Sherri doesn't know about Slade or his powers...and did not want her to know, so she would not get mad or become sad."  
  
Robin: " Well, I guess I can understand that...by the way, where is Clive?"  
  
Starfire: " ...."  
  
Robin: " What is it Star?"  
  
Starfire: " Clive...is gone..."  
  
Robin: " He's gone? Oh...I see..."  
  
Starfire looked to the ground with a frown. Robin pat her on the shoulder to comfort her, then turned to Sherri, who was very confused.  
  
Sherri: " You guys are the Titans. Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, and...uhh..."  
  
Terra: " Terra. I'm new!"  
  
Sherri: " Oh, cool. But what's going on? Where's my brother now?"  
  
All the Titan's looked to each other for an answer to her question. Sherri's facial expression became one of extreme worry.  
  
Sherri: " Please...tell me he's alright. Please? Starfire?"  
  
Starfire couldn't bring herself to look Sherri in the eyes. She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. Robin stepped in though.  
  
Robin: " Sherri...we don't know what's happened to Clive...but no one has seen him since our disappearance."  
  
Sherri: " ...I can't lose him now..."  
  
Robin: " Don't worry. As soon as we take care of everything in the city, we'll start searching for Clive immediately."  
  
Sherri: " Promise?"  
  
Robin: " I promise."  
  
Sherri nodded quietly, sighing lightly as the 5 of them continued back towards the surface. Robin took out his communicator, giving a check up on Raven and Beastboy.  
  
Robin: " Hey! You guys there?"  
  
Raven picked up on her communicator.  
  
Raven: " Yeah, we're here."  
  
Robin: " You alright?"  
  
Raven: " Yes."  
  
Robin: " So...what's the crowd doing?"  
  
Raven: " They're in the shopping mall right now doing some petty theft. Atleast they're not hurting anyone yet..."  
  
Robin: " Well...seal up the mall and don't let them out."  
  
Raven: " I'll do what I can. I can keep them in, but those rifles they have may be too much for me to stop. But I'll slow them down."  
  
Robin: " Good. We'll be there shortly."  
  
Robin put his communicator away and lead his team out of the sewers. Finally, they had reached the surface and set down on the street.   
  
Terra: " Ok Robin, what's the big plan?"  
  
He took a moment to gather his thoughts and get his plan into words.  
  
Robin: " Well...here's my idea. I need Starfire, Raven, and Beastboy to keep them preoccupied. I don't want to say it, but you'll have to act as decoys to draw their fire and lead them in a large open field. Once they're gathered together, Terra, you hit them with an earthquake to knock'em down, then me and Cyborg will keep them down."  
  
Cyborg: " Works for me. What about her?"  
  
The team looked back at the teary eyed teenage girl.  
  
Robin: " We'd best keep an eye on her. Stay with her Terra."  
  
Terra: " Not a problem!"  
  
Robin took out his communicator once again and called up Raven. No answer came for a short while, until Beastboy's face showed up on the screen.  
  
Beastboy: " What's up man?"  
  
Robin: " Is Raven sealing the Mall?"  
  
Beastboy: " Yeah. They haven't realized yet that it's...oh wait..."  
  
A sudden explosion shook the building. Raven furrowed her brow a bit, tensing up as she struggled to keep the enemies within the structure.  
  
Beastboy: " Ok Robin, what's the plan?"  
  
Robin: " The 4 of us will be there shortly. You, Raven, and Starfire will herd the mob into the park across the street. Fly over head and let them shoot at you, but be careful that they don't hit you."  
  
Beastboy: " Well duh...so then what?"  
  
Robin: " Terra, Cyborg, and I will hit'm with everything we've got."  
  
Beastboy: " Great! Then get here fast, I don't know how long Raven can keep this up."  
  
Robin: " Alright then. Robin out."  
  
He turned to the rest of the team afterwards, giving out his instructions.  
  
Robin: " Cyborg, take Sherri and Terra to the park. Starfire, get to the mall and wait for my signal. I'll meet up with you guys at the park."  
  
The Titan's dispersed. Starfire made her way to the Mall quickly, while Cyborg used his power mechanical joints to run with both Terra and Sherri in his arms. Robin was following him through the use of his grappling hook, swinging from building to building with ease. Starfire met up with Raven and Beastboy at the mall, and set down on the roof with them. The walls shook more as Raven held them in, but her powers were slowly starting to fail.  
  
Starfire: " Raven, Beastboy, we must let them out and bring them over to the park."  
  
Raven: " Alright."  
  
Raven eased off of her powers, allowing the flood of criminals out. Beastboy took to the skies as an Eagle, while Raven and Starfire flew over head, shooting off bolts of energy to get the mobs attention. They returned fire, but because of the cover of the night, they were very hard targets to hit. The mob fired up into the sky and chased after the 3 flying Titans, following them right into the park. Finally, they were gathered in the right spot. Robin gave Terra the signal and she caused the ground to shake violently, knocking the criminals off their feet. On cue, Robin threw his sonic disk, arming it as it left his hand. Cyborg formed his sonic blaster, and just as he was about to fire it, the sonic disk caught fire and blew up prematurely. Cyborgs blast still went off and shook up some of the fallen escapee's, but that's about it. Robin glared outwards as a lone figure stood in front of the mob, dressed in a grey overcoat with a red scarf.  
  
Robin: " Who are you?"  
  
Smoke: " Smoke."  
  
Robin: " Well you're about to get smoked here!"  
  
Robin threw a pair of birdarangs in Smoke's direction. Before they could hit him though, they melted in midair and splattered on the ground. The pair charged each other and fought it out, using various martial arts styles. Smoke was much taller than Robin, but still carried his speed and strength as well. Robin was still formidable though, but didn't dare let Smoke land a solid hit as his hands were burning with fire.  
  
The mob started to get up again, so the Titan's went to work trying to get them in combat so they wouldn't use their rifles. They were making a very slow progression against the crowd, but unfortunately for Robin, Smoke's abilities were far too skilled and powerful for his own. As the pair fought, Smoke made the temperature around them rise, until it was just too unbearable to be close to him. As Robin fought him, sweat was just draining out of his poors and causing his suit to bother him. His eyes began to burn and he felt very sensitive. But Smoke didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. Robin backed off for a moment, trying to cool off.  
  
Smoke: " What's wrong Robin...can't take the heat?"  
  
Robin: " What's sad is that I can fend you off and I don't have powers."  
  
Smoke: " True, and for that, I applaud your efforts, but a real warrior comes into battle with all his strengths at the ready. In this case, mine is fire, as well as my fighting style."  
  
Robin was trying to think of a way to fight off Smoke. He couldn't get close enough, and it seemed that if he used anything, Smoke would just melt it. Infact, Robin was sure Smoke was just being nice enough to not cause him to suddenly combust. The pair continued their duel while the other Titan's struggled against the mass of criminals. They formed a regimental firing squard, each just taking shots at the remaining 5. Terra and Raven used their respective powers to provide cover, while Starfire and Cyborg would take shots at the horde, trying to get them to back off. Beastboy couldn't even get close for fear of getting killed. And, since Robin seemed to be losing, it was becoming apparent that the Titans were going to lose. For once Robin lost to Smoke, that would leave the remaining Titans' backs facing him. Robin fought desperately, but finally, Smoke had enough.  
  
Smoke: " You're pretty good Robin...but I'm tired of playing around. So if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna finish my job here."  
  
Robin started to sweat profusely and constantly wiped his brow. The other titan's saw this and began to worry. And out of nowhere, Robin's utility belt exploded, knocking him down to the ground and singed his uniform. He got up slowly, and between the 2, the Titan's had nothing left.   
  
But a darkness spread out over the area, encompassing the whole park. Everyone stopped, in awe of the sudden change. The Titan's tried to shine out lights to see, and once again, it failed.  
  
Starfire: " The darkness has come back!"  
  
Robin: " What is this?"  
  
Cyborg: " This happened earlier!"  
  
Raven: " Wait a moment, something is here..."  
  
Beastboy: " Dude...I'm getting really creeped out."  
  
Terra: " You're not the only one."  
  
Smoke: " What is it now?"  
  
No one heard anything as everything had become silent. Smoke broke the silence.  
  
Smoke: " Stop playing this game Grey. It wasn't funny last time!"  
  
Terra: " What are you talking about?"  
  
Smoke: " Then are you guys doing this?"  
  
Robin: " What's going on?"  
  
Starfire: " Raven! Please inform us..."  
  
Raven: " I...I..."  
  
The sound of metal crushing and circuitry breaking filled the air, and then explosions rang out from all around. The darkness lifted as it did before, and there, standing in the midst of all the criminals was none of the than Clive. Everyone stared at him for a moment, taking in his sudden dramatic appearance. It was then that the Titans noticed that the high powered rifles had all been broken. The convicts also noticed quickly and began to flee, being quickly persued by the Titans. Clive approached Smoke, standing between him and Robin. Smoke narrowed his eyes at the sight of Clive.  
  
Smoke: " Well now, this is an unexpected surprise."  
  
Clive: " Who are you?"  
  
Smoke: " Name's Smoke."  
  
Clive: " Why's that?"  
  
Smoke: " Because where there's Smoke, there's fire."  
  
Clive: " Yeah yeah. Let's just do this."  
  
Smoke advanced on Clive, jumping towards him with his fist extended and burning brightly. Clive ripped his guitar out of his shadow and countered Smoke's attack by smashing his hand with the insturment. Smoke reeled, but only slightly, taking a quick hop and kicking Clive in the temple, knocking him to the ground. Rolling away to safety, Clive got back and threw his guitar at Smoke, smashing him in the face with it and sending him back a few feet. When Smoke tried to get up, a huge black hand enveloped him, squeezing him tightly. Smoke caused his entire body to catch flame, but it didn't cause the hand to let him go. Clive frowned as his eyes began to glow with a pale blue light, much like Black's eyes. He let go of Smoke after a few more moments of squeezing the air out of him. Smoke fell to his hands and knees, catching his breath. He stood up straight afterwards.  
  
Smoke: " Well now, aren't we benevolent."  
  
Clive: " Get lost."  
  
Smoke: " Perhaps I shall."  
  
Smoke put his hands into his pockets and stared straight out at Clive. He pointed his middle and index fingers out to Clive like a gun and pulled it back like it had been fired. A small flicker of fire shot out and brushed against Clives face. Clive felt some Deja Vu in it, but didn't let it be seen. The pair stared each other down just a bit more, then Smoke disappeared in flames. Clive turned around after his match up to see all sorts of the escaped cons laying all over the ground. The police followed by soon after in large van loads. They spread out over the entire area, handcuffing and detaining those the Titan's had already dealt with.   
  
Clive wandered the crowds in search of Sherri, wanting to see her with his own eyes. He scoured the area up and down, then found her by Terra, whom was giving her story to the police. Clive made a run for her on sight, wrapping his arms around her on contact. After realizing it was him, she did the same.  
  
Clive: " Sherri, you're safe. Thank god..."  
  
Sherri: " Clive! You're ok! No one knew what happened to you! I was so worried!"  
  
Clive set her down and checked her over, making sure she was ok. After seeing that she didn't have any cuts or bruises, he stood up straight and sighed with relief.   
  
Sherri: " Clive, what is going on? Why did all of this happen?"  
  
Clive: " Sherri, there is a lot I've been keeping from you. That man I worked for, Mr. Slade...he was a terrible man and he had me do some terrible things. He asked me to do them, because...I have some abilities that I've never let you know about. Like, super powers and such. Slade had me use them for his purposes and for that, he would make sure we had rent money, insurance, food, and whatever else we needed that I couldn't make."  
  
Sherri: " Is that true? What all did you do?"  
  
Clive: " I stole some things, destroyed some things, terrorized the Titans on numerous occasions, freed hundreds of prisoners, and generally sucked overall."  
  
Sherri sat there staring at him in some disbelief. The other titans had found them and were gathering to talk to the two of them, but watched as the events unfolded. Sherri teared up, looking down at the ground. Clive frowned, but then, she slapped him across the face, then turned red with some anger.  
  
Sherri: " You jerk! You stupid stupid jerk! What were you thinking doing something like that? Huh?"  
  
Clive: " Well I..."  
  
Sherri: " That's right! You weren't thinking! You didn't think that I might worry about you! Or that all of this would happen! You could have killed someone! Please don't tell me that you've done that too!"  
  
Clive: " Of course not Sherri...you know I...  
  
She slapped him again across the cheek.  
  
Sherri: " You're gonna get in deep trouble because of this! And did you ever take a moment to consider how I felt? Sure the bills are important, but so are my feelings!"  
  
Clive: " All I can say is sorry Sherri. And that I'll fix this whole mess....I'm not sure how...but I'll do it."  
  
A police officer came in and broke the pair up. Clive gave him a bit of resistance, not wanting to leave his younger sister's side. However, he cooperated and let the man handcuff him. He began to lead Clive out, but stopped so the other titans could talk with him for a moment.   
  
Terra: " Hey dude...I'm glad you're alive."  
  
Clive: " Well, dying just not my gig."  
  
Terra: " Whatever happens, I want you to remember you owe me a rematch."  
  
Clive: " Anytime, any place Terra."  
  
Beastboy: " Dude, and when that happens, let me know so I can sell tickets and make a decent buck off it."  
  
Clive: " You got it Beastboy."  
  
Cyborg: " Hey man...thanks for all your help with the mess out here."  
  
Clive: " I caused it, so I should have to fix it."  
  
Cyborg: " Were you down in Slade's headquarters with us earlier?"  
  
Clive: " Sorry, but I didn't wake up till about an hour ago. I guess it takes a little more than a building dropping to put me and Black out of business permanently."  
  
Cyborg: " Well, see you round man."  
  
Clive: " You too dude."  
  
Cyborg made a fist and Clive gave it a good hit. Raven came up after the first three.  
  
Clive: " Howdy."  
  
Raven: " Yeah...thanks."  
  
Clive: " Anytime."  
  
Raven: " Can you answer me a question?"  
  
Clive: " Shoot."  
  
Raven: " Do you know why Black has a particular interest?"  
  
Clive: " Why?"  
  
Raven: " He say's he knows me...but I don't know him."  
  
Clive: " Well...I'd ask him right now, but he's sleeping. See, even though he could take the whole damn building falling on him, that still hurts and can tucker someone out. Even him."  
  
Raven: " I see...well thank you anyways."  
  
Robin was next. Clive was a little unsure how this would go, considering he and the boy wonder had never exactly gotten along.  
  
Robin: " Hey Clive...I want to thank you for helping me back there with Smoke."  
  
Clive: " No problem. It was my pleasure. I love clown stomping."  
  
Robin: " I also want to say I'm sorry for how I came off. You know, being a jerk and all."  
  
Clive: " It's alright. You're just doing your job."  
  
Robin: " Well...thanks for your help today."  
  
Clive: " Glad I could be of service."  
  
Robin walked off to talk to the police commissioner. Starfire was the last to approach Clive. Her face was awash with feelings of all kinds. Clive gave her his more light hearted grins to try and bring her spirits up.  
  
Clive: " Hey Starfire, how are ya?"  
  
Starfire: " I...I am fine."  
  
Clive: " Those guys didn't hurt you did they?"  
  
Starfire: " No, they did not. I am undamaged."  
  
Clive: " Then what's wrong Starfire? You seem down?"  
  
Starfire: " I...was worried about you."  
  
Clive: " Oh...yeah. I'm sorry about that."  
  
Starfire: " I am greatly relieved that you are alive."  
  
Clive: " Well, I attribute it all to my hard head. Sherri always say's my heads harder than a rock, so I guess that it finally did me some good."  
  
Starfire giggled a bit, feeling better. She smiled finally, then gave him a hug. The police man backed off, giving them the moment. Afterwards, she stepped back away from him.  
  
Starfire: " What will you do now?"  
  
Clive: " I've got a lot of crimes to answer for. As for Sherri...well I don't know what's going to happen to her. I'll do what I can for her though. I'll have Black keep an eye on her for me."  
  
Starfire: " Truely an honorable thing you are doing."  
  
Clive: " Well, it's the right thing to do."  
  
Officer: " Time to go kid."  
  
Clive: " Yeah yeah...I hear ya. Well Star, it's been fun. I'll try and write....maybe I'll even get to see ya again."  
  
Starfire: " I would hope so. I wish you the best of the luck."  
  
The officer led Clive back to his van and escorted him inside. Clive sassed him about the damaging the goods briefly as he got a pat down before getting inside. The Titans watched him get taken away, and afterwards, they regrouped. Some more police officers came in and picked up Sherri, taking her to a social security officer who would get her into a new home.   
  
Robin: " Any thoughts guys?"  
  
Cyborg: " Well, I hate to see him go."  
  
Terra: " Me too."  
  
Beastboy: " Me three."  
  
Starfire: " Is there anything we can do?"  
  
Raven: " Doubtful. But this is the best path he could have chosen. Atleast this way, his punishment won't be quite as bad."  
  
Robin: " Yeah. You're right. Well guys, let's go. It's late and I'm tired.  
  
Cyborg: " Amen."  
  
The Titan's began to leave the park, walking back to the tower at a slow marchlike pace. Clive turned around in his seat and took one last look to the Titans, and smiled as Starfire turned his way for one last look.  
  
Clive: " Well, till we meet again Angel." 


End file.
